Its summertime which means vacation time. Life in suburbia can be stressed, exhausting, aggravating and often purposeless. Vacations are our last hope for renewal, recovery, rest, recreation, and meaning.
Surprisingly, vacations are a relatively new concept. Until recently, the term vacation was only reserved for the rich who would spend time in the Adirondack mountains. The idea of vacations was popularized by William Murray, the Boston preacher who wrote the book “Adventures in the Wilderness” in the 1860’s. He suggested that the stress of city life was unhealthy and felt that spending time in nature was an excellent antidote. Who would argue with this kind of logic?
Suburban Long Island in the summer brings forth sounds of cars rushing by at 60 MPH. This elicits the need for the sounds of babbling brooks, cool nights and mountain air in some lovely New England village in Vermont or Massachusetts.
As I researched this year’s summer’s trip I came across Tanglewood Music Festival and noticed that the renowned singer/songwriter James Taylor was playing at Tanglewood on July Fourth. Tanglewood Music Festival is located in Lenox, Massachusetts which is only about a three hour trip from Nassau County. I had heard of Canyon Ranch, the wellness and health spa which was also in Lenox and my decision was made.
The ride up to Lenox was easy enough and after settling in to Canyon Ranch we were escorted to Tanglewood by their shuttle bus. Tanglewood Music Festival was now so wildly popular, that the country roads could no longer accommodate the traffic heading to see James Taylor and the shuttle took the back roads.
Sweet Baby James played to a sell out crowd of 15, 000 adoring fans and the basic vibe of the concert was pure love. James Taylor is now a confident singer/songwriter in full possession of his rich voice, and he now has an easy charm with the audience. He is one of the most successful recording artists in history so he can afford to hire the elite of the music industry who served as backup vocalists, pianists, drummers, sax players and guitarists. James Taylor has penned such classics as “Fire and Rain” “Shower the People:, “Carolina on my Mind”, “Mexico”, and “Sweet Baby James.”
Hanna Segal, the famed psychoanalytic writer known for her analysis of artists, said the truly authentic artists have the ability to face the inner demons of their past and come back to us to sing about it. Taylors’ anguished past, his heroin addiction and his extended hospitalization at Austin Riggs Psychiatric Center are all well documented. His pain and his ability to survive it through music support Segal’s theory about artistic motivation based upon a lost and pained childhood. Phyllis Greenacre treated many artists as well and she concluded that the greatest artists are deeply motivated to provide a gift to the world. And anyone who was lucky enough to see James Taylor at Tanglewood could not help but feel the gift he gives to the world and the profound love James Taylor has for his audience. One of his last songs was “Shower the People” with these familiar lyrics:
“Shower the people you love with love,
Show them the way that you feel.
Things are going to turn out fine
if we only will.” And the way his back up singer Arnold McCuller finished this song brought the crowd to its feet.
And if that was not enough we also had our renewal and wellness experience at Canyon Ranch to look forward to. There are a mind boggling number of experiences to be had at Canyon Ranch, a wellness center set on 120 manicured acres. Its central building is the Bellefontaine Mansion and other newer buildings which house the spa, the swimming pools, the tennis courts and the hotel rooms.
Every hour there is a chance to get health and performance coaching, mind and spirit work, nutritional classes, mind and body work, sleep clinics, sports medicine, tarot readings, massage, swim classes and ancient tea rituals . We were there for a short period and somehow I lost five pounds without trying to do so. The dinner series was orchestrated by the Michelin award winning Columbian Chef Juanma Barrientos and his staff. My favorite workshop was run by Lisa Avnet and focused on the way people hold emotions in their bodies and how to release these emotions.
We ask much of our vacations. We all hope for rest and relaxation , fun and spiritual meaning as well. I think the town of Lenox, Massachusetts, the green lawns of Tanglewood, the rolling hills of the Berkshires and all the experts at Canyon Ranch delivered.
But now its Monday and its back to work. As I drove onto the parkway and faced all those speeding angry motorists once again, I began humming a song which goes like this:
“In my mind I’m gone to Lenox, Mass.,
Can’t you just feel the sunshine,
And can’t you just see that impish smile on the face of Sweet Baby James.”
Thank you James Taylor and thank you Canyon Ranch.
