Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Vacation: Time to Preserve and Develop Community and Culture

With family holidays around the corner, I'm wishing I had a little more time off to rest up and create the holiday atmosphere and cheer I wish to share.

Moms like me are often at the helm of holiday efforts--we host families large and small, purchase presents, and create the holiday festivities with the needs and desires of those we love in our hearts and minds.

In a sense, this holiday cheer and festivity is part of our culture--the community we build in and around our homes.

Yet busy work schedules can challenge this activity and culture too. If we work too much, do we have the time to also care for and promote community at home and beyond?

So at this time as I think ahead to the holidays, I'm wishing that work schedules were a bit more sensitive to our family life and at-home needs and efforts. Why not give everyone more time off at the holidays--time to create community, preserve culture, and rest up to do good work when we return.

As humans, we create work/life structures, and I think it's time that we rethink the pace and amount of work we're asking all people to do--this rethinking and rescheduling of work may make more time for community and culture, and that, in turn, may create a happier, more peaceful, and caring country. Do you agree?