Simply..doing nothing....

5/1/2018

Definitely not my style. I find it difficult to do nothing. I'm a doer, and if I'm not doing I'm planning some doing!

I complain a lot about the rain here in the west of Scotland but feeling tired after the festive season I used the excuse of a few days of lashing rain to just stay home and stay in and do very little. Often when life seemed a bit hard I would say 'Sometimes you just have to plod.' and that always worked for me, but this time I did not even plod. I kept the fire going, cooked just a little, watched The Miniaturist and Little Women on iPlayer (both very good), read a lot, and slept quite a bit.

It's been surprisingly restorative.

And about 8 hours without email, at first annoying, seemed strangely peaceful!

Gently gathering up the Christmas decorations...

Including all the crystals which flew off the tree in the high winds (next year will attach them to a string).

Do you ever get tired enough (and lucky enough) to do nothing for a bit?

14 Comments

Lucille link

6/1/2018 01:52:19 am

You've reminded me of that Bing Crosby song, I'm Busy Doing Nothing. You must have needed that downtime and it was wise to take it. I have just acquired a Fitbit and I think it is tapping into my worst tendencies to keep moving at all costs! But it is at least giving me interesting insights into my sleep patterns.

Freda

6/1/2018 01:02:57 pm

I have just replaced the lost charger for my Fitbit - I just use it to measure steps though. I found it quite motivating! You[ve given me the idea to use it when sleeping during my upcoming 'Health Week' - more on that soon.

Julia

6/1/2018 03:33:59 am

Freda, at the risk of taking over your blog..i could say at lot about this! A quiet time of reflection and restoration is absolutely the most healing thing one can do..in fact every religious tradition had that built in..most, weekly. We are now “told” to keep going no matter what! Are you sick? “Don’t stay home from work. Take this remedy and keep pushing.” Etc. Anyway...even if you do enjoy being a highly productive person, don’t fret about the days when you want to simply be...:-) my favorite motto is a spanish proverb: how beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterwards!.

Freda

6/1/2018 01:04:30 pm

There is plenty of room here Julia, and I simply love that proverb!

Mary

6/1/2018 03:37:25 am

Like you, our weather is not encouraging much activity - minus 15C. Now I know why bears hibernate in the winter. I can, and do, adjust to doing nothing if my body simply has had enough. It was why, in these last few years, I almost always fell in bed not long after coming home from work. Now adjusting to having time to relax.

Julia

6/1/2018 04:13:03 am

Yes, Mary! Actually having time to relax can really be a difficult adjustment for a person, after years and years of rushing and doing. I wonder how that will go for you..:-)

Freda

6/1/2018 01:05:54 pm

I am feeling some nostalgia for Sundays as they used to be....

cathy

6/1/2018 04:24:47 am

I think it's the protestant work ethic I was brought up with that makes me feel guilty when I sit & read or knit, idle hands make the devil's work or something like that. I'm trying to get over it. Since I went part time & have downsized, it doesn't take long to do what needs to be done. And I hate to 'make work' just to be doing something. Totally agree with julia's thoughts.

Freda

6/1/2018 01:07:35 pm

Oh yes, that work ethic. And guilt.

Lotta

6/1/2018 10:33:19 am

All of my best ideas, creativity, realisations have come out of 'nothing'... For me it's the space where everything grows. Like a greenhouse for the soul. Somewhere to root, to ground, to nurture, and then flourish...

Freda

6/1/2018 01:10:44 pm

My sister gave me a card which says Live Life in Full Bloom..in the greenhouse for the soul? What lovely images.

Viv link

6/1/2018 02:56:49 pm

Grab all the 'nothing time' when you can is my advice - I would love to do nothing - I have to be off work sick to get to do nothing and just lie in bed or on the sofa and read - but not keen on being off sick to do this! I am back at work Monday so trying to get myself and the house straightened out before I go back. I might get a little rest tomorrow though which would be nice.

Elizabeth

10/1/2018 03:27:23 pm

I think it is really important to be able to enjoy what you are calling nothing time. Today a very dull day here in York, recovering from a cold and shaken by a fall, I went back to bed with w book. It felt so luxurious to give myself permission for this. Like you I had also spent timed recently watching the miniaturist and Little Women and enjoying both

Nib's End

11/1/2018 02:28:58 pm

Oh, yes. And it doesn't take any coaxing. I haven't had so much opportunity for nothing since I was a child and, sometimes, I like to wallow in it.

Simply..doing nothing....

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