Doing Nothing!

I am making a conscious effort to take it easy this summer! I am teaching less classes than in years passed and I am spending more time reading, writing, cooking and gardening. Sometimes, it is only when we slow down that we realize how out of balance we have become.

The truth is I actually crave doing nothing! I have always been the one who goes on vacation and just sits on the beach. Now I see that I can recreate the feeling of vacation, in my everyday life. I guess I am getting older and wiser.

I found this poem by Thomas Merton about doing just that!

Nothing Doing - Thomas Merton

Some of us need to
discover that we will not
begin to live more
fully until we have the 
courage to do and see
and taste and experience
much less than usual...
There are times, then,
when in order to keep 
ourselves in existence at
all we simply have to sit
back for a while and 
do nothing. And for a man
who has let himself be
drawn completely out of
himself by his activity,
nothing is more difficult
than to sit still and rest,
doing nothing at all.
The very act of resting is
the hardest and most courageous act he can
perform.

It really is all about balance. We can work hard but we have to rest in equal proportion, in order to stay healthy and happy.

If you are looking for me this summer, I will be smelling the roses in my garden.

See you soon,
Beth