This is more rewarding and soul-cleansing than I thought. I turned off both of my phones (especially the Blackberry), downloaded a book that was recommended during my trip, got lost in a half-asleep state for some amount of time, grabbed some lunch, wrote in my blog, and went for walk. By disconnecting from the outside world, I feel liberated. Everything feels different today. There is no stress, no worries, and no bullshit that the normal week brings. If day one is any indication, I'm going to continue this trend for a while.
I know that the traditional Sabbath takes place from Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown, but that doesn't really work for me. If I learned anything on my trip, it's that for this transformation to be successful, I need to do things my way. So I will continue to work this into my schedule where convenient for now, and that simply keeping it as a part of my routine should help by leaps and bounds.
I've never been one to pay much attention to "signs," and I usually chalk things up to coincidence, but I've seen way too many "coincidences" lately that I'm starting to at least question my thinking. As I mentioned at the start of this entry, I'm sitting at the top of the Art Museum steps. If you've been up here, you know you can see the entire Philly skyline from this vantage point. However, today is a particularly foggy day, and it's difficult to see the tops of many buildings. My client happens to be located in the tallest building in the city, and on most days, you can see it from anywhere in Philly. Not today. Based on the fog and the height of the building directly in front of it, you cannot see the building at all. Part of the beauty of Shabbat is that you don't think about work, don't talk about work, and don't do work. I'm sure it's not a stretch to extend that to not seeing work either. On my first Shabbat, in a place where you can almost always see work, I can't see work. It seems like this was meant to be. Maybe I'm just learning where to look.
Kaps
Song of the Day: Bill Conti - Gonna Fly Now
3 comments:
If you ever want company on the stairs, let me know!
This is absolutely wonderful. I've been thinking about observing a similar "Shabbat" myself, and in a way, this is almost an inspiration and a motivation to do so. You mentioned the feeling of liberation. One of the most liberating feelings I had on the trip involved completely disconnecting myself on Shabbat when we went to the Kotel. I left my phone, and even my camera, at home. I instead focused on the experience, the people around me, and what I was learning. I got so much more out of it than I would have had I had my phone with me or if I was worried about taking pictures of the event. It's amazing what simply disconnecting for a few hours can do for a person.
Here's to hoping you have many liberating Shabbat's!
@Daniel
It's absolutely amazing to disconnect. I did it again last night and feel totally rejuvenated.
@Philly
I live 6 blocks away from it. You're welcome any time!
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