“I have to go to Greece,” was my response to friends who asked what I had planned for the summer. After all, my mother-in-law and many of my Greek-American husband’s extended family reside there. “Poor you!” most would exclaim, followed by a laugh, and I’d promise to share my photographs.
Having family in the Athens area has allowed me to travel there several times throughout my marriage. However, it seemed I never had the vacation I saw in the brochures! My husband and I talked about a new strategy. We realized that we typically spent about a week visiting relatives on the mainland. We would go from house to house, apartment to apartment, and could have been anywhere in the world. So, we decided to do things differently. We would find a place on the coast of Athens to rent and invite the family to visit us for at least part of the trip, allowing them time away from the city and us the opportunity to host the visit by the seaside. Everyone enjoyed the new plan! We also learned that it was our family vacation after traveling that far. So after the week of visiting, we would take a second week to visit an island.
We have been to Santorini, Kos, Paros, and Mykonos. My husband’s favorite and most vivid childhood memories are set in Mykonos, so we repeatedly visit the beautiful Psarou beach area. We love this place, and it isn’t easy to choose a change-up! However, this year I insisted we break the Mykonos habit and venture out. We chose Corfu. And, wow… just wow!
It is not the white-washed, blue-roofed buildings you find in the dry, rocky islands of the Cyclades. It is lush, green, and colorful, with Venetian-inspired architecture. The signature green shutters adorn the homes and businesses regardless of the varied color of their walls.
I fell in love with this island, and for the first time since my husband proposed we retire in Greece (countless times over our 20-plus years together), I could visualize the possibility. Well, it will depend on where my children live!
By morning, I sought shade under centuries-old olive trees bearing fruit for any who cared for their harvest. By evening, I often sat with the warm sun on my face and the cool water on my feet, mesmerized as the sunset outlined the mountains of Albania. It looked like I could swim to their shore! Sailboats drifted by in the distance as I sat dreamily eating fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood nearly every meal.
As soon as I would drift into this fantasy of what life would be like, I would be shaken back to reality with the awareness that Ukraine was under attack and there were fires and floods back home. As guilt crashed into the sacred place of my vision and before I went down the rabbit hole of despair, I remembered what I had shared many times with clients: There is both darkness and light in the world. There always has been. When darkness seems overwhelming, do something to spark light. We can’t all be boots on the ground in a crisis, but we can do something to lift the world while it is down. It may be as simple as helping a neighbor, a stranger, or sharing a smile. It doesn’t have to cost a thing. Just awareness that you are choosing light.
As judgment tried to creep in as it always does for us humans, I also remembered and embraced that the only thing “wrong” with being on vacation would be not feeling and expressing gratitude. I found myself grateful for the ability to travel, the time to relax, and all the beauty, peace, adventure, and freedom.
So, in my vacay fantasy that so many would love to experience, I chose gratitude over guilt, allowing me to truly recharge and return home to be the brightest light that I can be in my corner of the world. And the next time I need to reignite my spark, I need only return to Corfu in my mind’s eye and feel gratitude for having experienced her.
A Lesson From Guilt To Gratitude In Greece
