Letter from the editor.

As I was rushing through selling ads and editing articles, hiring staff and administrative planning for this issue, I suddenly felt like I was spinning my wheels. All sorts of paper was moving around, checks were coming in, I was constantly on the phone, in my car, getting things done. Somehow in all the flurry, I lost track of reality. I'm sure that many people would think that I was being perfectly appropriate. After all, my actions were wildly productive. I was moving forward, growing my business, creating income to pay my employees, helping good businesses promote themselves effectively and get the word out on what they do. But somewhere I got lost in the shuffle of papers, phone calls, deadlines, quotas. I was laughing and talking with lots of people, I was being an efficient decision maker, but where was I in all this?

I had to take my foot off of the accelerator and step on the brakes. Even though the deadlines were looming, even though there was so much more to be done, it was important that I take a break. Sometimes it feels like it will take me a lifetime to learn that there is always something to be done. I just have to decide if I'm going to keep compulsively "doing," or if I'm going to find the balance within me about when to be active and when to be still, when to work and when to play. (What was that Beatles' song?) After all, it's only after taking a break that we can be truly productive and fully alive.

So last night, I spent lots of time with three important friends I've been neglecting. They were tired of hearing between my words, "Don't you understand my business is more important?" I had dinner with one, I had a long talk over chamomile tea with the other, and I sat around a campfire with another until one in the morning. I managed to laugh with them, cry with them, apologize and accept apologies, give and receive advice, tell stupid jokes. Tonight I'm ordering a big (organic) chocolate cake to cover with candles in celebration of two friends' birthdays. This weekend, I'm going to a family picnic to celebrate my mother's 75th.

In this issue, we spotlight a few local vacation spots; to visit them, you don't have to make a major commitment of time, and you don't have to invest in a plane ticket. Perhaps reading this issue will help you decide on the spur of the moment to grab a friend or partner and head to the hills for a day hike, deepen into a meditation retreat, take a workshop to learn something new, or pamper yourself with a spa weekend. You deserve it; after all, is there anything more important?