A quotation by the New York marriage and family therapist Vienna Pharaon caught our eye this weekend: “The extent to which you allow yourself to be seen is the extent to which you allow yourself to be loved. When you hold back, share only parts of yourself, pretend to be ‘fine’ when you’re not, or fit into the mold you think the other person wants, you can never fully trust that you’ve been chosen and loved for all of you.”

One advantage to weekending in a small space is there’s nowhere to hide. We see each other whole and complete. We share our fears, insecurities, and vulnerabilities, but we do so within the safe confines of Cloud 9. In that sense, it has become for us an almost sacred space. Yes, it has also been a place where we’ve wounded one another, sometimes deeply. But it is our sanctuary, our place of refuge, of healing.

Often, the chaos, doubt, and anxiety of daily life cause us to re-enter dynamics that are unhealthy and dysfunctional. Consequently, our weekends become occasions to break from these familiar patterns and instead pursue a more hopeful future. Here we have the time and space to turn to each another and acknowledge our need for a caring and kindness that only we can provide–based not on what we fearfully withhold but on what we freely share.

This weekend, we escaped the oppressive heat by allowing ourselves to dream. We re-visited old travel shows hosted by Rick Steves, Rudy Maxa, and Joseph Rosendo to remind ourselves of our own European adventures and spark our wanderlust for more. Many of our European memories, made more than a quarter-century ago, have us even more determined to return some day, albeit with a greater appreciation and situational awareness that only maturity can bring. The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once said “youth is the most precious thing in life; it is too bad it has to be wasted on young folks.”

We know we’ll never turn back the clock, and life is too short to be filled with regret. Instead, we’ll just move forward with a renewed commitment to living in the present and savoring every moment, whether at home or abroad.