In October, I went to Maui by myself for a week. I had the incredible good fortune to housesit for a friend of mine which meant I only needed to take care of getting myself there. Which is a really good thing because I was part of COLOR’s most recent round of layoffs.

While being laid off is *not good*, being able to vacation without worrying about the pile of emails waiting for you, or the project that’s on pause, or needing to take “just a couple of meetings” is absolutely indescribable.

I swam with turtles. I supported local small businesses. I took my time reading ALL the signs on the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk. I fell asleep while reading Dune no fewer than 5 times. I volunteered at a food bank. I borrowed a dog from the Maui Humane Society for a 4 mile hike in the rainforest. I soothed my soul, gave back to ‘Aina, and came out ready to face what’s next.