Relax and Do Nothing
Recently I was hit with the need to relax and do nothing in an effort to relieve stress and make way for healing (shingles, for crying out loud). I don’t know about you, but being told to do nothing seemed like a dream. But it turns out that to do nothing is harder than you might think—or better put, and speaking only for myself, to relax and do nothing without guilt can be dauntingly difficult. Nagging thoughts of things wanting done crowd the mind like uninvited guests.
Though not exactly doing nothing, I’ve found binge-watching can be quite relaxing. Bonus: a writer-mentor friend assures me it is excellent self-care.
I particularly liked BBC’s The Great Interior Design Challenge. Unfortunately, Netflix currently has only one season. Fortunately there were 16 episodes! I started assessing my own home for interior design possibilities, which was not part of the intended relax and do nothing protocol. Of course, this morphed into things I could do while watching TV from the couch, like tying keys together with copper wire and painting a yard art frog in glow-in-the-dark greens—which were both relaxing. (The doctor said specifically to relax without guilt.) Naturally, I have also gone for yoga, meditation, reading, and naps. Social media and news fasts have made way for recommended holistic, dietary and supplement data gathering jags. Meet my new friend, lemon balm tea.
I am now sneaking up on getting back to work, hence this post. So here’s me working part time between my relaxation breaks. Until next time, or as they say around these here parts, hasta entonces.
Tanya
New fiction author, Tanya D. Dawson, has written a story for the young adult in all of us. Her pending novel, Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel [working title], brightens the sometimes dark world of YA and delivers the angst and the weird in this inspiring becoming-who-you-are adventure of mystery, intrigue, and mysticism grounded in today’s world. While Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel is primarily set on the North’ish West Coast, Tanya lives and works in the American Southwest.
I love the keys, and OH the frog! and you! I think while you’ve been relaxing “doing nothing” you have done a LOT within! So I am hoping some really good things have come from the illness. I have thought about Aunt Georgie, I wish I had KNOWN her. I hope that you know what a truly special and wonderful person you are. I am so glad you had her, and the greenhouse people. I cannot wait to read more, and hear more about those special people.
Thanks, Steph. I loved your YouTube video with the toads. It was very relaxing. Aunt Georgie would have loved what you are doing there in nature at your house. Roses, toads, tadpoles…oh, my!