Creative Director: Unplug

I Create: Creative Director of My Life.

Holding my novel in my lap, I started to hear the quiet beginnings of someone snoring. The kind that you can hear in the heavier mouth breathing when someone’s been trying to stay awake but just dozed off. The room was fairly full, so I was aware that if I could hear it, I wasn’t the only one. The lady next to me and I exchanged knowing smiles ~ that person could be embarrassed if it escalated to full snoring.

We were in a reading / resting room. A solarium, you could call it. Lounge chairs meant for reading, quiet contemplation or a little shut-eye.

This Spa is a Nordic style Thermal Healing spa. Hot pools, ice cold pools, Nordic showers, Saunas and Steam rooms. Outside in the forest in Whistler BC. I was here at Scandinave Spa while in Whistler for a hockey tournament for my younger son. One of the other mom’s coordinated it. There’s always a mom who puts in the effort to make a recommendation and try to get the ladies together, doing something we might not otherwise do or even know about. The mom that likes to make sure others feel included and coordinate an event that gets us together, so we can get to know each other and share a common experience. It was a warm, sunny and beautiful day. We spent close to 4 hours going through some of the spa together, and also moving on to areas that we alone felt pulled to visit next, cycling through the hot, cold, steam, rest – cycle.

The spa was silent, with the exception of some hushed whispers of what space we might be headed to next. I had never been before, so leading up to it, did feel a little out of my comfort zone. What would it be like, would I be too hot, would I get a sunburn, what if I timed my entry wrong and couldn’t find the group. We could bring a book, could I get away with bringing my sketchbook, or would that be dumb?

All the usual kind of anxious thoughts. And I realized also, since it did feel out of my comfort zone to go, this was the perfect opportunity to ‘expand’ myself and just embrace it. I opted for book only, the idea was thermal focused, so carrying less things would be the better plan, which turned out to be true. I would have loved to be able to take some pictures but it was also a device free zone. A real unplugged experience. I was unsure if an entire afternoon would be too much but it was lovely. I’m glad I went, and had a common experience with some of the team hockey moms.

Since last Friday, my family and I were able to have a small break. I had finished my painting for a book cover just a few days before. It’s a cover for a novel – you can see on my Instagram page. I finished up some other commitments, bookkeeping work, tied up some loose ends and didn’t do any painting since being away. I feel like the first half of my year was full, on task, and completed what I had wanted to, with some ideas and vision for the second half of the year that has just started today. So our Whistler long weekend was a perfectly timed rest point.

I hadn’t been to Whistler since a winter wedding over 20 years ago. It is a beautiful location, with lots to see and explore, with beautiful rivers, forests and trails all around. Lots of people visit in the summer for mountain biking, and today, on Canada Day, lots of festivities were getting under way in the village. I could really see us visiting in the summer for a weekend more often.

My son’s hockey team played some really skilled kids and didn’t make it to the semi- finals, but it was a wonderful time, met some new people, and we all enjoyed ourselves. It was an ideal recharge weekend, getting inspired by the beauty all around, and some rest and good quality unplugged time. A chance to reset for the coming months.

Until next week,

Devon