regularly do nothing

But I need it more than ever. My work is especially engaging these days, we are refinancing our home, our kids are going through exciting transitions, our church is in a pastoral transition, my dad is about to have heart surgery—so my mind is in overdrive pretty frequently.

Tonight after cooking & eating supper, I took my dessert (sliced banana & chocolate syrup in a bit of homemade yogurt) & sat on the unlit back porch. Just ate & watched the fireflies & let my mind empty for a while. Then I watered & fed the porch plants.

Now I feel nurtured & rested.

to end the day with—watch this.

It’s even funnier than synchronized swimming.

I had my first Sunday-afternoon Do-Nothing session on the porch today. My husband decided to join me & we each sipped a good beer & talked about the two events we had helped organize. Both came out even better than we had hoped; we are thankful. But we’re both introverts so we definitely need quiet time after so much public/social time.

After a bit he went inside, & I stayed & finished my beer & just looked at the wood of the porch stairs & the varying greens of the plants on the porch & in the yard. Shadows, sun. Quietness.

how very, very seldom I do nothing . . . almost never, except when I’m sleeping, or sometimes when I’m praying drowsily.

Recently I reread To Kill a Mockingbird. It may be an odd takeaway, but it struck me that the characters – not just kids, adults too – did quite a bit of just sitting or standing on the porch, enjoying the garden & watching neighborhood doings. And to some extent this seemingly aimless presence enabled them to be there for each other.

Our back porch has become a very pleasant place with all the flowers & herbs. For now, the idea is just to sit out there for half an hour each Sunday afternoon as long as weather permits. I will likely see my building neighbors more often, as most of them use their backdoor more than their front. Down the road I may be able to add some front-yard nothingness too.