Remembering to recharge is important
The Colby Cheese Days weekend has been a bit of a blur the last few years. Between covering all the different events over the weekend and hosting extended family, it was often an exercise in bouncing back and forth between all the various responsibilities that come with that. While there was still plenty of fun to be had in between, “relaxing” would probably not be an adjective that I would use to describe those particular weekends.
This year was a bit different. While I was still in work mode part of Friday evening and Saturday morning, my hours were confined to just those times, allowing me to more freely enjoy the festivities on Sunday.
Attending the parade of my own volition surprisingly turned out to be a far more relaxing experience. Because taking pictures of the parade is a relatively easy task, I had not really thought much about it before, but watching everything through the lens of a camera is not exactly ideal. Without the burden of having to snap pictures of every float that passed by, I could just sit down and take in the scene for what it was, rather than trying to frame it perfectly.
It’s an interesting part of this job. I feel like I get to go to so many different community events, from dairy breakfasts to baseball games, but there is a bit of a barrier between me and everything else that is going on. While most people at these events are there to have a good time, I’m still on the clock, the camera separating me from what is really going on.
It’s a phenomenon that largely goes unnoticed by myself; taking pictures isn’t particularly difficult, and a lot of times people at these events are nice enough to chat with me so I’m not just sitting in a corner silently with my camera. But subconsciously, I think my brain still very much registers what is happening as “work” and, as such, does not allow me to enjoy these events in the same way as if I were just attending without needing to cover it.
Which in some ways is unsurprising, I suppose. When working as a freelance editor, I worked at home a lot of the time, and the feeling that I could (or should) always be doing something work related, often made separating time strictly for rest and relaxation a bit difficult. This too was not something that I really recognized at the time; rather it was something that was happening in the background and that I only picked up on after circumstances changed and I could reflect on it.
Having a separate time and space to recharge is important, but advancements in communication and computer technology over the last few decades have collapsed spaces, for better or worse, making such separation difficult. Some perhaps prefer working from home, not having to spend time commuting to just go into an office for a job that could just as easily be done from anywhere. Others like to be able to communicate with coworkers in person or want to have separate spaces to just turn their brains off from work-related tasks. However, even if you do have a separate office, e-mails and apps like Microsoft Teams can often have work bleed into your personal spaces. It really depends on the individual on what you prefer and I’d imagine many fall somewhere in-between on that spectrum.
It’s only really when I have something else to compare it to, like the parade on Sunday, that I even really notice the small stressors that are put on even when doing fairly menial tasks. It may not seem like much on paper, but just being able to talk to my brothers or watch my nieces and nephews chase down rogue Tootsie Rolls without having to pause to take a few pictures made a big difference.
I guess take this as a reminder to consciously carve out some time to relax and recharge; the modern work landscape can easily blur the personal and business realms and often can do so without us really noticing. Hope all had a great weekend and thanks to all the volunteers that make such an event possible!
A C ERTAIN POINT OF V IEW
