I had a day off yesterday. I got Gleek off to her first day of kindergarten and then my mom held down the fort while I took off for the rest of the day. I had 12 hours with nothing in particular to do. It would be nice if I could blog about a major insight or epiphany as a result of my mini vacation, but I can’t. On the other hand, epiphanies are hardly restful events. Since my goal for the day was to take a break, the lack of insights and epiphanies is probably a good thing.
I spent the morning at a local public garden. It was huge and beautiful. It was kind of like a herbological disneyland. All the plants were carefully planted in well defined flowerbeds. There was beauty, but none of it felt natural. Then I found the secret garden. It was a constructed ruin and the plants inside were allowed to run riot over the structure. It felt enclosed and private and natural. I stayed in that place for two hours. I wrote in my paper journal and drew a picture and just sorted my thoughts. It was so nice to just have time to let my brain wander without interruption.
The afternoon was spent having lunch with Howard and visiting at Dragon’s Keep. After that I called up raisinfish and the two of us went out for ice cream and a movie. I got home in time to put my kids to bed. It was so nice to be able to come home and really focus on each of them. I could listen to them and be glad of them.
The day off was good. Having a whole day to myself is a rare event, and it should be. If my daily life is balanced, then I shouldn’t need days off very often, because I will build refreshing myself into my daily schedule. Apparently I had similar thoughts almost a year ago when I wrote about Filling Up. The goals I wrote back then are good. I’m going to reiterate them here because rewriting them helps put them back at the front of my brain where they might actually get used.
I will read from my scriptures every day. This gives my brain and spirit something meatier to nourish them than the usual light reading I default into.
I will do something every day to make my home more beautiful. It may just be doing the dishes and wiping the counters, but sometimes I’ll try to do longer lasting things like planting flowers or repainting a room.
I will do something active every day. Anything that gets me moving will do.
I will write something every day. It might be a fragment of story, it might be a journal entry, but writing focuses my thoughts and makes me feel like I actually did something measurable.
Each week I will schedule some time for a project that is mine. It might be sewing, it might be a trip to the hardware store, it might be an early morning birdwatching jaunt. The important bit is that I plan ahead for it and it is something that I want to do not something that someone else asked of me.
And now I need to catch up on chores that I ignored yesterday.
That sounds wonderfully relaxing. I wish I had the time to take a day completely off like that. (Or perhaps what I need is the willpower to not fill every day of my life, weekends and holidays included, with Stuff To Do…)
That sounds wonderfully relaxing. I wish I had the time to take a day completely off like that. (Or perhaps what I need is the willpower to not fill every day of my life, weekends and holidays included, with Stuff To Do…)
Day Off
When I was busy being a Mom and trying to keep things balanced and meet the needs of 7 children, I decided on a policy that helped me get a day off here and there. If I had a day scheduled for something and that something got cancelled (because of children’s illnesses or something else), that day was MINE! And so I would read or do crafts, etc. for at least part of the day and it took some of the stress out of having my plans get changed abruptly.
I also used to have what I called “Procrastination Days”. They occurred randomly. I would start my daily tasks, etc. and come across some job or project that had been pushed aside again and again. And I would simply take the time to do it. I might get only one or two things accomplished but it would feel good to have those things done and I knew that tomorrow I would be back on my regular schedule and all the things I didn’t get done today would get done tomorrow.
Day Off
When I was busy being a Mom and trying to keep things balanced and meet the needs of 7 children, I decided on a policy that helped me get a day off here and there. If I had a day scheduled for something and that something got cancelled (because of children’s illnesses or something else), that day was MINE! And so I would read or do crafts, etc. for at least part of the day and it took some of the stress out of having my plans get changed abruptly.
I also used to have what I called “Procrastination Days”. They occurred randomly. I would start my daily tasks, etc. and come across some job or project that had been pushed aside again and again. And I would simply take the time to do it. I might get only one or two things accomplished but it would feel good to have those things done and I knew that tomorrow I would be back on my regular schedule and all the things I didn’t get done today would get done tomorrow.