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I like going just a little overboard with things. If life is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing, right?
But I don’t mean striving for perfection. I mean taking regular life and making it a little more fun. I mean picking specific candy to go with a TV series we’re watching. Having a playlist for going to town. Making cookies the first real snowfall of the season. Just little things that make daily life “extra.” Is it necessary? No. Is it frivolous? I used to think so, but now I realize it isn’t. It’s embracing life. We know how to live in stress, we can now live in delight. Y’all know I work in tourism. I love my job. I want visitors to come enjoy their stay. I know it brings revenue for y’all, and rest and delight for our guests. But my heart isn’t just with the tourists. My heart is with YOU. I want your regular days to be happy and delightful too, even as you work or go to school. So I think it’s time that we don’t limit our restful, engaged life to just two weeks out of the year. We can live life now. Let’s start by thinking about why vacations are different (this IS a tourism article, after all). Vacations aren’t about the destination or the travel (Did I really type that in my out-loud voice? Why yes, yes I did.) but are more about being in the moment, about tuning in, not out. When we’re on vacation, we change our mindset, our intent, our deliberate excitement about having the same chicken sandwich. We let ourselves have a little fun. We give ourselves permission to breathe and think and sleep and do. Honestly, we’re still the same person. We brush our same teeth, are still vaguely lactose intolerant, and still stay up way too late. It isn’t that food is free or the traffic is light or that airlines never lose tourist luggage. But because we’re on vacation, we love it. We decide to enjoy ourselves. We decide to be deliberate. We act instead of react. We kiss on the beach, play family games, put our phones down, and watch the moon rise. The thing is that we can do that at any time! Oh, we can’t fly off to Aruba any time, but we can take a moment to get a little excited about lunch, about bedtime, about the moon, about 5 minutes in the bathroom alone (unless you have cats like mine who like to stick their paws under the door like preschoolers saying “Mom! Mom! Mom! Can you see my fingers wiggle?”). Just think…have you considered that your “quick meal while shuffling the kids home from practice” is the exact same food that the people at the next table are lingering over because they are “on vacation”? Same burger, different vibe. They’re excited to be doing exactly what you are doing. One of my best friends, as a full grown adult, has “Scooby Doo” nights. She loves that show and instead of just flopping on the couch and bingeing it for hours, she takes the time to put on special pajamas, make cocoa and snacks, and truly enjoy herself. She turns television into an event. Every time she does that, she has a little mini vacation. She rests. She delights. She takes the time to be deliberate. What if we could have that enjoyment in our daily lives? What if we delight in the “mundane miracles” of the life we are given? What if the hard times could also be times of peace? What if we don’t need to escape, we just need to adjust? That’s what we at the Athens-Limestone County Tourism want to introduce in 2024. We want ‘vacation’ to mean everything from “Big tour bus coming in from some far-off city” to “I have an hour to kill before my haircut.” We are starting a new campaign of “’Cations.” These are going to be mini-plans that you can use to be deliberate in your everyday life. They will based on theme and will have a few ideas to get you started. These are also going to be excellent ideas for when you have visitors. Or if you want to have a girls’ night or a guys’ night. If you need some bonding time with a loved one, or just need an “excuse” to focus on something in your life. So put your arm in mine and let’s stroll down the rest of our lives with intent. Let’s take a moment to look, to pause and enjoy, to rename our brief minutes from “have-to” to “GET-TO-AND-I-HAVE-THIS-AWESOME-PLAYLIST-AND-I-CAN’T-WAIT-TO-GET-STARTED!” Stay tuned, your ‘cations are coming.
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All across the nation We are running out of patience Stress is high Days go by We all need a vacation! Doesn’t need to be a week-long A little peace can never go wrong Deep breath in Let’s begin- Within our day to get our rest on. Plans for you or out-of-town guests Finding time to learn, play, and rest Calm your heart Wake your mind Our life is not just one big, huge test. So let’s all stop to make some spaces Relax our shoulders, slow our races Your ‘Cation guide Is here inside Let’s get some smiles on our faces! IT’S HERE! Finally our ‘Cation Campaign is launching! And it is launching for YOU! This is for YOU! Why? Because we all need rest. And fun is not just for two weeks out of the year. Because rest doesn’t just happen. It isn’t a crumb that maybe we get to lick off the plate after we have served everyone else. It’s a thing we need to seek out. Because life is hard but a gift. Because even in hard times, there can be peace. We all have to work, we all have troubles, but merely having work or trouble doesn’t mean we can’t also laugh and relax. Anxiety is like rocking really fast in a rocking chair—we feel like we are doing something, but it gets us nowhere and doesn’t change anything. So let’s replace stress with rests (Get it? The same letters just rearranged? We can do the same thing with our lives!) Because we all need ideas for date nights and girls/guys night out. Because sometimes the kids are out of school. Because if you are new or just visiting Limestone County, you may not know what fabulous things we have to offer! These are excellent mini-plans that you can use to make your days, weeks, and months just…more! Let’s take a tour of a ‘Cation Mini-Plan: Theme: Often built on an event like the Christmas Parade or Sheriff’s Rodeo or a local class. There are a ton of themes we’ll be doing from arts to sports. Playlist: List of theme-related songs from various genre—everything from Charlie Daniels to K-pop (You gotta hear some of the Canadian hockey songs—what a trip!) What to eat: Suggestions for local foods, stores, or restaurants (Our folk sure know how to keep our tummies full!) What to wear: Theme related clothing ideas that you can put together at home or support local. Dress to impress, my peeps! What to do: Theme related activities including everything from visiting local sites to journaling. We are going to release 1-4 ‘Cations per week. Check our Facebook page (Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association) or our Instagram (@athenslimestonetourism), email us, or visit the office to find out what each theme entails. Here are the guides for the ‘Cations Mini-Plans: 1. They are for YOU, so do whatever parts you want to. You don’t have to do the whole thing, but we suggest you try—the more you do, the more fun it is! 2. If you are into social media, take a photo of yourself doing any part of any of the ‘Cation plan, tag us in it, tag the store or locale or restaurant you are at, and tag any top sponsor. If you tag all three, you get a point! 3. At the end of the campaign, we will figure out who had the most points and who had the best presentation and give prizes! (Local influencers, this is your time to shine!) 4. You can do ANY part of ANY released ‘Cation throughout the campaign. So for example, if you couldn’t make it to a restaurant that we named on this week’s ‘Cations, you can go some other time and it still counts as long as you tag us, the restaurant, and the top sponsor (if there is one). The campaign should last about a year, so you have plenty of time. But don’t put off the fabulousness too long, we have a year of fun planned! Are you ready? AWESOME! Our first 3 themes are: (Drumroll please…) 1. Powerplay-cation! (Hockey! For our “Life is a full-contact sport” folk!) 2. Payday-cation! (For all you entrepreneurs! Time to get your hustle on! ) 3. Everyday-cation! (For our “Trying to be everybody’s everything” folk! Starting every day on the right foot, learning to find the moments in your day to be calm, restful, thankful!) Come get the details on our Facebook page, Instagram page, or office! Check back often. “Sounds GREAT! I want my business to participate. Are there still spaces left?” Hon, we’re Southern; there’s always room for one more at our table! Simply contact me and let me know what your business is. If you are a merchant, locale, activity, or food service, let’s see how we can make you part of a ‘Cation Mini-Plan. Even if you are a home-based business, we should be able to get something cool going. If you are not really a “vacation” type business (insurance, roofing, accountants, etc), you can be a Top Sponsor! Contact me at the Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association for more details. So now you know what all is in store To make an awesome 2-0-2-4 The time is right Let’s start tonight There’s no better time for us to wait for! |
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February 2024
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