Ahhhh . . . work. Such a dirty word. What exactly does that conjure up for you? If you’re lucky, it’s something that you love. If you’re not so lucky, it’s a paycheck. But this isn’t in praise of work. There’s plenty of time for that in your life. This is in praise of doing nothing. Not a damn thing.
Every once and a while, it’s good to do fuck all nothing. Just sit back and let the nothingness wash over you. I’m not advocating taking a full day to wallow in nothing (but if you can swing it . . . have at it), but ten minutes will do it. There’s plenty of time for the hustle and bustle of your daily life. Time to let the kids watch a few more minutes of the telly and enjoy the nothingness in your space. Time to put aside that “to-do” list that you have. Time to simple breathe in and breathe out. To prove a point, here’s a list of what I ought to be doing today:
- the dishes (they’ll wait; they haven’t figured out how to walk yet)
- putting away my clothes (all clean and stacked . . . and I’ll wear them all eventually)
- grading some vocab (probably should get on that one)
- dinner planning (hmmmm . . . didn’t I receive a Living Social coupon for a site that will do it for me)
- mow the lawn (damn you, early spring)
- research topics for next year’s units (ahhh, sounds like a bit of fun for summer)
- cleaning the bathroom (nope . . . took a vow before God and man to avoid that one)
I’m pretty sure that there are more things that I could add to that list, and it would never seem quite complete enough. So here’s what I have decided to do today instead:
- nothing (I can do that)
- zip (mastered that one as well)
- zilch (ohhh . . . the zilch and I are good friends)
- nada (even in Spanish, I can do nothing)
I started the morning having breakfast with some friends. We get caught up on the laughs that aren’t appropriate for work, and laugh our way through a few cups of coffee. Now, I might get caught up on Great Expectations or watch a few episodes of Boardwalk Empire. Or perhaps I’ll read and knit in the quiet. I take great pleasure in doing nothing, and I do it well. On the rare occasions that I can do nothing, I plan on living up to my expectations. So, take some time and close the door and do nothing. Sit back and put your feet up and do nothing. Now that I’ve given you permission (because that’s what you were looking for, right), how are you going to spend a little bit of nothingness?
Overexposed + Underdeveloped 
YES! YES! A moment to myself to read an actual book, not just quick online snippets is my dream. Glad you had a day doing zilch. 🙂 Also: Love your opening shot.
It was delicious . . . all jumbled up into one little bit of a scramble. And I’m spending the rest of the day reading.
Oh yes. Carve out time for a book. I did it a couple months ago and it was lovely. Need to do it again, but each one I’ve started I’ve dropped. It has to REALLY be good to keep me going anymore. Need to get the Hunger Games.
I’m just finishing up the second one (for the third time), and I think I’ll start the third one in a few hours.
Jill, you are a woman after my own heart. LOVE YOU!
Love you, too! I’m enjoying my day of nothingness 🙂
I’ve been doing nothing since 7:45am. It’s what happens when my mother in law takes my daughter to school then I let my boys sit on the couch and watch TV while eating their Easter candy. My goal is to get up and put a bra on by 11am…
Sometimes, bras are highly overreated 🙂 I spent all day yesterday braless . . . I can cook without it, considering that it was just me and Dave.
i agree about the bras. i would even consider bras my nemesis, after laundry and ants.
HA! I left my bra on the chair (from Saturday), so I had to put it on in the living room this morning. Damn, I hate them.
Jill, I would so love to spend a morning like that! I promise to give myself at least 30 minutes today in your honor (I might even knit too as I’m almost done the sweater that it will now be too warm to wear — damn early spring!).
Thirty minutes is more than enough time to get recharged, Amy! I really ought to grade that vocab (it’s the one thing that is bothering me), but I’d rather knit and read.
ha! i almost started my post the exact same way.
i love a day spent doing nothing, though they are few and far between. i’ll take them when i can get them. i usually spend those days reading and ignoring everything around me (spouse and children included). yesterday was kind of like that but it was due to allergies getting the best of me and i spent as much time as possible in bed.
Dinner tonight was pasta with bagged meatballs plus some garlic bread from Friday. Because nothing says, “I care enough to do nothing,” like pasta. But it was glorious day spent on the couch.
I can’t wait to get to the point with the baby where I can pull off doing nothing with him around. For now I’m chasing him down and pulling miscellaneous things out of his mouth. One sweet day though.
It will come. In the meantime, take ten minutes to yourself to just do nothing. Sometimes, it’s worth all the commotion that goes on around you.
you captured perfectly my mood for today. I think I will have a taste of “Nada” for the day
‘Twas a good day to do that. When I got tired (because doing all that nothing was tiring, right?), I took a cat nap and then resumed my day of . . . wait for it . . . nothing.
Doing nothing is great- that is how I celebrated my Easter Morning- I too stayed braless until 2PM when I had to get ready to visit myMom’s-but the nothing morning was wonderful
Sadly, I think the bras will have to make an appearance tomorrow. Imagine the horror running rampant if we try to pull that one off. Then it might be days after days of doing nothing!
Yes, yes, doing nothing is certainly underrated. And exactly what I did today. Today’s most pressing task for the beau and me was returning library books. A task that we turned into brunch, beer tasting, and dandelion picking. Maybe it was Easter’s soul-sucking family gatherings, but today was indeed a perfect day to do nothing. Thanks!
Oh, how I would have liked to have a beer tasting today. Nearly came close to opening up a bottle of wine, but then I sunk further into the couch and resumed a good book, one that I’ve read over and over again, but one that I never fail to enjoy more with each passing reread. I wish I could chalk all this up to Easter, but both of our families are states away . . . I gave into the final day of my spring break and knowing that I’m now in the long haul of my school year.
I’m doing nothing curled up in bed, while the sun is still out, listening to quiet. 🙂
And that sounds like all sorts of pleasant. I turned off the TV after I finished watching Great Expectations and listened to the wind whipping all around me while I read. Quite a glorious way to spend my day!
🙂
I did nothing. If you include adding the binding to a quilt nothing? But I shouldn’t have been doing it. I should have been cleaning.
My nothing turned into a nap, which was quite lovely. And then a reading of Mockingjay, which gets better with each successive reading.