A Time to Pause

The Essential Need for Vacation and Restoration



"Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes… including you."



— Anne Lamott

September 1, 2025

Dear Beloved Community,

In our often hurried, over-scheduled lives, it may feel counterintuitive — maybe even irresponsible — to step away from our work, duties, and endless to-do lists. But stepping away is not only responsible, it is essential. Taking a vacation, creating space for rest, and choosing to restore isn’t a luxury — it is a life-giving spiritual practice. Restoration time is not something we “earn.” It’s something we require in order to live, love, lead, and serve from our wholeness.

This reality has come long and hard as wisdom for me. I am a classic “workaholic” and have pushed all the limits of “having no limits” possible. This has been short-sighted, naïve, and irresponsible. It took a few decades to awaken, and I still have to be very intentional about “vacating” and “restoring” and “rejuvenating” as part of my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual accountability. I just returned from a 3-week trip through the Mediterranean, one of my favorite places in the world. I vowed each time I have visited there over the years, that I “must return.” 

This particular vacation completed my “must return” trips list that I have been completing over the last few years. These places included Australia (sailing around the full continent), New Zealand (3 trips there), the South American tip/Cape Horn (2 trips), and Antarctica, 25 years ago and again in January. 2026 begins my vacations to “NEW” places in the world, including Southeast Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangkok, and then the Baltic Scandinavian area later in the year. 

I vowed that, when I turned 50, I would take at least two vacations per year, and so far, I have kept that commitment. I have them planned two years in advance, deposits made, and the calendar blocked.  These are a beginning for the restoration that is essential for me. Added to my micro–vacation practices, I am getting better and better. 

"It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol."

— Brené Brown

Do you need a vacation survey?

NO SELF HATE PLEASE. Telling the truth is the first step to awakening.

• I’m tired most of the time.
• I’m always in motion.
• I feel unappreciated for all I do.
• Interruptions frustrate me.
• I rarely rest or play on days off.
• I miss meaningful time with loved ones.
• When I finally do something I enjoy, I’m too tired to enjoy it.
• I feel guilty when resting.
• Even on vacation, I either rush through activities or collapse because I’m too tired.
• I miss important moments in my life because I’m checking emails.
• I use caffeine, sugar, or alcohol to either push through or wind down.
• I say I’ll think about my goals “when I have time.” And I rarely have the time.
• I carry more than my share of responsibility.
• I gulp food and rush through the day.
• I put off meaningful goals until “things calm down.”
• I have unread stacks of books or magazines.
• I avoid delegating. I know I’ll just have to redo it.
• Lunch breaks feel like interruptions.
• I avoid drinking water so I won’t need bathroom breaks

Why We Must Step Away

Psychological research confirms what many ancient traditions and spiritual practices have known for centuries: rest is sacred and necessary. A recent study published by the American Psychological Association found that workers who take vacations experience less burnout, improved productivity, better sleep, and increased creativity. Time off has even been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and longer life spans.

"There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence… activism and overwork." 

— Thomas Merton

Vacation is not just about physical health — it deeply affects our mental clarity, emotional regulation, and spiritual connection.

I’ve witnessed this firsthand — both in myself and in the hundreds of people I’ve worked with. When we don’t rest, we become irritable, reactive, and less kind (especially to ourselves). When we do rest, we become more connected, present, joyful, and energized.

In the words of the always-relevant Brené Brown: “It takes courage to say yes to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.”

Martha Creek’s Top Ten Vacation Practices

After leading retreats, workshops, and ministries across the country for decades, I’ve noticed what really restores us. Whether you can leave for a full month ( just like I did in August) or a week or just a few hours, these are my favorite practices to create space for restoration:

1. Unplug completely. No phones, no emails, no social media. Even a 24-hour digital detox can be life-changing.
2. Choose beauty. Be near water, mountains, trees, birds, bees, or art. Whatever your flavor. Let beauty heal your nervous system.
3. Do nothing — intentionally. Sit, breathe, notice. Let your spirit catch up to your body.
4. Laugh daily. Lightness is a medicine. Watch a funny reel, movie or share stories with a friend.
5. Savor food mindfully. Deeply connect with the juiciness of a peach, berry, or piece of chocolate….Let your meals be slower, sacred, and savored. Include something exotic. My friends says “eating olives” makes her feel like she's on a vacation. 
6. Sleep in or nap. Restoration isn’t optional; it’s essential to your health and clarity. I just got some info sent to me from a friend documenting that naps add 6.5 years to your life. Now it’s a goal. 
7. Give yourself permission. Guilt about resting is deeply ingrained. Rest anyway. My deepest fear from legacy burdens of mother are primarily of being lazy. 
8. Read, write, or journal. Let your soul speak through ink, yours or theirs.
9. Practice awe. Watch a sunrise. Enjoy birds on a feeder. Blooming plants. Listen to a thunderstorm. Feel small in a vast universe.
10. Connect with friends and family without an agenda. Let conversations flow with no goal — just heart-to-heart.

* * * * *



Remember, vacation is not an escape from life; it’s a return to your truest self.

A Deeper Spiritual Practice

In spiritual traditions, restoration is a spiritual discipline. In Genesis, even God rested. Not because God was tired, but to model the rhythm of creation: work, then rest; give, then receive; go out, then return. Easier said than done for me.

Jesus himself withdrew from the crowds repeatedly to be alone in the wilderness, by the sea, or on the mountain. His ministry was punctuated by solitude, silence, and prayer. In our modern-day lives, we must reclaim these rhythms.

As I often remind groups in retreats, “If you don’t take time to rest, life will eventually force it upon you.” The choice is whether we build in rhythms of restoration willingly, or whether we run until we collapse. I see this way too often.

"Rest is my responsibility. Restoration is my gift." 

— Martha Creek

The mystic Thomas Merton put it best: “There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence… activism and overwork. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his work… It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom.”

Let that sink in. Overwork is not noble. It is violent — to our spirit, to our relationships, professions, families, and to the causes we care about most. Let it remind you and me that we don’t have to control, fix, or manage everything all the time. Rest is a spiritual trust fall. And well-being is the reward of a rested soul.

Choose a Micro-Vacation Mindset — Practice Daily

Even if you can’t pack your suitcase and hop on a plane this month, you can cultivate the spirit of vacation right where you are. Take mini-vacations every day. Here are a few ideas:

• Turn off your phone and sit outside for 20 minutes in silence.
• Make your bath or shower a spa experience with candles and calming music.
• Prepare your coffee or tea like a ritual — slow, sacred, unrushed.
• Write one paragraph a day about what brings you joy.
• Review past vacation memories in your photos.
• Go somewhere local that is a new discovery.
• Have a daily “outing”. That’s what Hadilyn and I called it when she lived with me for homeschooling during Covid shutdown. Trips to the park, sidewalks, study of the trees.
• Sit with a child or elder, ask a simple question, and really listen.

These micro-restorations add up. They regularly recalibrate your nervous system, reconnect you to yourself, and make you easier to live with—for yourself and others.



The Invitation

So this month, I invite you — no, I lovingly insist — to take a pause. A real one. Even if it feels uncomfortable or “unproductive.” Especially if it feels that way. It may be the most productive thing you do all year. Plan your vacation. Take your day off. Schedule your break. And in the space that opens, let life love you again.

The world doesn’t need your exhaustion. It needs your aliveness. It needs your rested, radiant, restored self.

With rest, love, and wholehearted living,

Martha Creek

502-905-0783

marthacreek.com



P.S. What’s your favorite way to rest and restore? I’d love to hear about it. Send your story or tip to: marthacreek@gmail.com, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter or a daily self-compassion video. 

Follow me on social media and like, follow, share, and subscribe.

My September 2025 Special Gift for You!

And here is my special gift to you this month. Click on the box to open your gift.

New Events & Classes Coming in 2025!

September 19 – 20, 2025

(Registration ends September 10, 2025 at 11:59pm)



You are invited to be part of an experiential Mystery School Weekend facilitated by me, Rev. Dr. Martha Creek. The retreat is open to all on a path seeking spiritual transformation and uplift.

Martha Creek will share her knowledge gained from ancient wisdom traditions, mystery schools, energy modalities, and advanced spiritual practices. These traditions include: Sufism, Christianity, Buddhist, Hoffman Institute, & Unity.

A Mystery School experience is not to teach you truth. It will promote, challenge, and excite you into awakening the truth that already lies within. This kind of truth cannot be given. Yet it can be called forth through personal experiences — through teachings, rituals, and ceremonies calling you into new ways of being. Your being DIVINE SELF led.

Immersion and Extraordinary Leaders Groups 

As some of you already know, October begins the next round of the two annual featured programs that I facilitate:

They each run for 8 months, and feature a monthly 1.5 hour group presentation by me, a 1 hour small group interaction based on the curriculum I have provided, and private sessions with me.  They both include optional virtual retreats in January and March that are 3 full days each. Two in-person retreats near Louisville, KY at a sacred site of the Sisters of Loretto are offered as well. Details are more specific below.  If you discern that NOW is the time for you to engage more deeply in your healing/transformation/liberation, join us. 

Please listen to the recorded orientation call to answer most of the questions and contact Martha directly for any further questions or clarification. 502.905.0783, marthacreek@gmail.com



EL & Immersion Orientation Meeting

(click on the image below to watch)

*Prices quoted in the video above are from 2024. See below for current prices.

Extraordinary Leaders Testimonial:

After taking the EL course with Martha, I felt like...wow...this is great but I don't know if I'm really getting it. Am I really able to heal at this depth and release old triggers? Months afterwards I found myself embroiled in a some dramatic conflict. I immediately turned to what I learned in this course and put into practice what had been taught about non-resistance and acceptance. I can only say that I would not have made it through this time with the grace and healing that happened if it had not been for this foundational work. I encourage anyone who wants to be liberated from their triggers and old repeating patterns to engage in this work! Even when you don't think it is working ...it is! 

Details are the same for BOTH groups. 

¨4 nights lodging/meals Retreat in Loretto, KY (Nov 2025 or June 2026)

(double occupancy/shared baths/no smoking campus)

¨8 Monthly Zoom Virtual Classes (90 minutes and recordings available)

¨6 Monthly Personal Phone Sessions with Martha (45 minutes)

¨8 Monthly Zoom Assigned Small Group Sessions (60 minutes)

¨2 Virtual retreats (3 consecutive days/6 hours per day – TBD)

$1300 for basic program and NO RETREATS

$1700 includes two Virtual Retreats (Both optional) $200 value each

$2200 Includes one in-person Retreat (2 optional) $500 value each

Deadline to register is October 1, 2025.

Monthly, quarterly, or in full payments are welcome via checks, Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal. www.marthacreek.com for credentials.  To enroll or with questions: marthacreek@gmail.com or call 502.905.0783

Immersion Group

Immersion Process: Utilizes “inquiry, contemplation, and IFS therapeutic approaches” as daily devotional practices. Textbooks are Loving What Is by Byron Katie and Listening When Parts Speak by Tamala Floyd.

Loving What Is — Four Questions that Can Change Your life

by Byron Katie

Listening When Parts Speak

by Tamala Floyd

Extraordinary Leaders Group

Extraordinary Leaders Program is "For developing our highest functioning SELF, featuring daily practices in Self Compassion" — and is based on the book: Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach and Letting Go; The Pathway to Surrender by Dr. David Hawkins.

Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach

Letting Go; The Pathway to Surrender

by Dr. David Hawkins. 

Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach

“An important, fresh voice from the ranks of modern dharma teacher-writers.”—Yoga Journal

“A consoling and practical guide that can help people find a light within themselves.”—Publishers Weekly

“A clear, practical and caring guide.”—Sharon Salzberg, New York Times bestselling author of Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience and Lovingkindness

“Tara Brach, perhaps more than any other spiritual teacher of our time, deeply understands self-compassion: both why we need it and how to cultivate it. This classic is a must-read for anyone wanting to develop a healthier and more loving relationship with themselves.”—Kristin Neff, Ph.D., author of Fierce Self-Compassion

Read More...

Martha’s Vineyard

Watching



Listening

“This gorgeous, transformative, welcoming book is for anyone who longs to feel more present, more alive, more joyful, and aware of the holiness of daily life.” —Anne Lamott, author of Dusk, Night, Dawn and Help, Thanks, Wow

Welcome to the temple of your regular life.

So begins beloved spiritual guide Mirabai Starr’s stunning exploration of finding the extraordinary in the everyday. In Ordinary Mysticism, she helps readers discover their own inner mystic and let go of the limiting belief that spiritual life exists only in traditional places of worship. Mysticism, she explains, is a direct experience of the sacred—no church or clergy required. Our everyday life can be an encounter with the sacred if we pay attention. Starr explores the magic of mundane life, from weeding in our humble gardens to a slow evening walk with a friend to a full kitchen table surrounded by family. Embracing mysticism in our everyday is a way of being more alive in the world, an awakening to the interconnectedness between all things.

Please consider a donation to continue the teachings of Martha Creek. Many of the classes and workshops are offered by donations only, with suggested donations amounts included in the class or workshop description. We welcome your support.

Use the convenient QR code or the PayPal button below for all donations.

or visit PayPal.Me/marthacreek if you want to see these teachings and principles reach the world.

You do not need a Paypal account to make a donation. You can use your debit or credit via PayPal if you don't have a Paypal account. If you choose to send a check, please send it payable to Martha Creek and send it to PO Box 65, Gamaliel, KY 42140.