External things cannot fix internal issues.

I spent this past week at a beautiful, remote location in the middle of the desert in Arizona. Taking time away from technology is a primary focus of mine, not only to keep me from wasting my most valuable resource (my time) but most importantly, to allow myself enough peace and quiet to listen to myself; my true self, not the character I play in the lives of others. So at the start of the year, I scheduled times to get away.

I was searching online for a place to take a few days and disconnect, in order to connect my soul to its Source, when I stumbled across Castle Hot Springs. It was the perfect gem of a find! Stunning remote location, warm, sunny weather, a plethora of wellness activities, a fascinating history and a farm onsite to provide fresh, farm to table meals. An added bonus is they indicate on their website that cell phones are not permitted in public areas and with rooms void of televisions, they strongly encourage all guests to disconnect while on the property. This would mean I could go for a walk, hike, eat and be quiet without anyone talking 10 decibels louder than necessary on their cell phones. I was SOLD!

Although guests are encouraged to disconnect, they obviously cannot force anyone to do so. Nearly every table during breakfast and lunch was occupied by people ignoring one another and the beautiful surroundings in favor of mindless scrolling. Each morning when I went for my early morning walk, there was a British couple out on their patio, wife frantically pulling at her exercise bands and racing through sets of mountain climbers, while her husband spoke unnecessarily loud into his zoom calls from his yoga mat. Laughable. Nothing like winding yourself up (and setting yourself up for disease) while paying good money to get away, in the name of wellness.

While none of this was a distraction to me, it was alarmingly sad to see just how addicted to technology people are. I'm not quite sure if it is a compulsion to connect to the world, or actually an avoidance of connecting to oneself. My gut tells me it's the latter.

Connecting to your true self isn't easy. It doesn't happen by laying on the beach, or jetting off on vacation. While those sort of things are most definitely fun and top my list of priorities, that is not how we connect to who we really are. Finding that person takes effort, stillness, quiet and contemplation.

Who are you? If you strip away your career, your significant other, your children, grandchildren and friends, who is left? That is the person you were made to be. Find that person and all of the roles you play in life become more authentic. Those roles become enjoyable again and less hectic. The character(s) you play in life no longer define you, they enhance you.

So while you can transplant yourself into a peaceful setting, or take a vacation to escape the routine of everyday life, you cannot fix what is inside with anything out there. The answers are within you, so that's where you have to look.