Reprieve

H&M shirt
Zara shorts (similar)
Havaianas flip flops
Celine sunglasses
Ellen James handbag
Linjer ring (c/o) (similar)
Mejuri earrings (similar)
Location: Plaka – Athens, Greece

There are so many things I love about travel but among them, admittedly, is the fact that it grants us a reprieve from real life. I don’t mean from laundry and washing the dishes, although I appreciate that, too. It’s the concerns of everyday life that I like to get away from temporarily. The seemingly never-ending stack of tasks piling up at work. And the plans that I intend to make but can’t seem to find the time to fit in. Not to mention all the parts of my past that I knew I needed to move back to Winnipeg to finally confront, some of which have been harder to face than others.

When I went away to university in 2005, I gave myself a permanent reprieve, more or less. At the time, I’m pretty sure I thought it made sense – that if I just got away from hard things, that those things would eventually go away. It’s a lovely dream, but surprise! Guess what? It doesn’t actually work that way. You can change your geography, but you can’t change your history, which means you have to do the necessary work to accept it.

The snapshots from Plaka make me think back fondly on the temporary reprieve that I gave myself this fall. Our whole trip to Greece was so peaceful and rejuvenating. But this was a particularly carefree day. We slept in, visited the Acropolis Museum and marvelled at seeing the Acropolis from a completely new vantage point, then wandered through the old town towards Monastiraki. We stopped for a long lunch on the rooftop terrace at Couleur Locale, then wandered the flea market with takeaway cocktails from Norman in hand. Eventually, weighed down by shopping bags full of vintage trinkets and local wine, we caught the subway back home, where we lounged in the sun on our balcony.

It’s the fact that we returned to real life in Winnipeg just a few days later that makes days like that truly special. But the temptation to wish they could last forever is still very real. I’ve worked so hard this year – on myself, on forgiving past versions of her for things that were beyond her control, on truly accepting that she did the best she could with the resources that she had available. It’s been a long process, though, and often a fraught one. The finish line feels like it’s in sight, sometimes. And then it unexpectedly moves away again, or changes positions. So I keep going, because I understand now that it’s the right choice. That doesn’t mean it’s an easy one. It’s one that I have to make over again every single day. But in the end, it’s choosing myself, which makes it worthwhile.

…and yet, I still appreciate a reprieve from time to time. A moment, or a day, with the sun shining, when I can pretend that life is easy and there is no work to do, figurative or otherwise.

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