Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Adding Nothing to our List of Things to Do

I am talking about adding Nothing as a something to do. All too often we are just so busy that doing nothing is not an option. This morning Jerry and I had a long overdue conversation about adding Nothing to our list. Because our list is so full of somethings, that we are missing the opportunity to do nothing and enjoy it. And so, apparently we must make a conscious decision to do Nothing as part of our daily schedule. This way, it will be perfectly acceptable because it has appeared on a list that we have been working off since last year. Does any of this make sense? Let me explain. Since moving here full time last July of 2008, we have managed to complete the following jobs: new roof, new bathrooms upstairs and down, new kitchen, new front porch, painting and decorating the bathrooms and Allison's room, securing the wood for our room, which must be done before October hits, or all that wood will be under snow. New appliances, new laundry room, flooring in the hallway and a new truck and plow. The Studio has its wall sealant done and now needs the flooring finishing done. Now this may not seem like a terribly daunting list, but for us it was major. All the construction work required trips to Home Depot/Lowes and that was no small undertaking. As it stands we have a few things that need to be done before the weather changes, and as our local weatherman so happily informed us this morning, the summer weather is now turning towards fall and will be cooling off mildly but progressively at night. WTF? We haven't even turned on the AC yet! And he's talking about fall? WAIT A MINUTE! I'm not done with summer yet. We both decided this morning, we have too many things we want to do this summer to allow fall to start arriving. And one of those things is nothing. We have been dabbling in Nothing for the past few days and are finding that we are enjoying it. Yesterday, we actually went and sat on the beach at East Caroga Lake because we had so thoroughly enjoyed it on Saturday and the weather was again a perfect beach day. Normally, Monday through Friday is reserved for "projects". That is when all the above mentioned projects were done. I'm sure I left a few off, but my point is that we have been very productive the past year. The weekends are reserved for guests and activities. So when Monday came around, we were back in the "get it done" mode. Laundry got done, cleanup got done, and then Tuesday hit and we just weren't feeling like getting it done. I've become quite a fan of the afternoon nap, and Jerry is also learning how to relax. We used to look on this as a bad thing, or even a character flaw. Lazy. We are seeing it differently now. We have reached that point where we can look at it as a wise choice. There are so many things to do that require us to stop a moment and look around. Little by little these things are taking up the majority of our time. Relaxing takes time. And we don't always allow ourselves that kind of time, and so we are not relaxed. And wasn't that the whole point? I keep forgetting that we are our own boss now, and I can call my shots. This is finally dawning on me, and guilt has no place in this equation. It has taken me a year, and Jerry is not far behind, but we are becoming wise enough to recognize the importance of doing Absolutely Nothing. So much so that we are willing to book it onto our list. Nothing. What are we doing today? Nothing.
Add it to your list of things to do. I highly recommend it.

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