GETAWAY: To San Diego
It’s always nice to visit new places to see new things or even to revisit our old “reliables.” But how often do we merge the two and get away specifically to see our familiar surroundings in a new light? It’s what I like to call Travel for Perspective and that’s what the Getaway With Jaye Column is all about. It is named after a Women’s Weekend Workshop that I conduct for a select number of clients. It is a Staycation Style Retreat designed to provide customized coaching and consultation in an atmosphere that offers all the amenities of home without the accompanying distractions. The experience speaks to that feeling inside of us that says, “I could make some headway in my life, if only I could get in a conducive environment.”
I was on a similar type of trip when I was inspired to not only create the “Getaway With Jaye” service, but also the very idea of the JAYEzine. I had attended a Writer’s Workshop with a colleague in sunny San Diego. Though it was the middle of November and remained overcast the entire weekend, it was still beautiful and inspiring. I don’t find it strange that this Southern California city has served as a dependable muse for me.
I have always loved San Diego– from the time I was a child returning home with souvenir stuffed dolphins and killer whales to the time I was a high school cheerleader cheering at championship away games. I loved it as the site of shopping sprees and clubbing excursions during my college days and the destination for Daycation Dates during my young adult years. San Diego has become, for me, the home of the best Mexican food north of the Mexico-United States border. Not to mention, it is the closest thing we Angelinos have to attending an NFL football game (that was until the return of the Los Angeles Rams in 2016).
Given all these tidbits of why I could be wearing an “I ♥ SD” t-shirt, one day I posed the question to myself, “What is it about San Diego that I like so much?” I think I’ve always known in the back of my mind the answer: I am attracted mostly to its landscape. San Diego is like the best of both worlds to me. How can you not take that drive without receiving the embrace of the mountain views on one side and the immense ocean on the other? It is a wonderful scene to contemplate our human need to journey down life’s bumpy roads as it is balanced between the sturdy, stable heights of the hills and the fluid, moving vastness of the waters. And that, my friends, is the core of the Getaway With Jaye column.
The purpose of this column is to acknowledge the place where God’s Creation meets the Makings of Man. We address elements of the environment as they interact with the realities of modern living. It is here we will discuss facts like San Diego is the eighth largest city in America and add parentheticals like (the number eight symbolizes New Beginnings so this author believes it’s no coincidence that SD has offered a perfect backdrop for creativity). We will also give information such as San Diego’s city motto is Semper Vigilans which is Latin for “Ever Vigilant.” Then encourage the keepers of God’s Green Earth– who also travel down life’s manmade highway– that we must be like all great cities who try their best to live in harmony with the forces of nature around them. We can do this by remembering that although it is an innate part of our human composition to desire growth and expansion, we must also be ever vigilant to connect to our responsibility for creation and fulfill the first mandate given to humankind: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” So get out and getaway so you can get ahead; and when you do, take a good look around you so you can look back and give thanks for the New Perspective.
Thank you, San Diego!
Remember to Journey Above Your Expectations
