Doing Nothing
I’m reading a biography of Teddy Roosevelt and it
is amazing to me all that he did in his life.
It seems that he was always working one something, writing a book,
running for office, attending or hosting a party, or just in general doing
something. How is it I just had
seventeen “days off” from school and spent so much time doing nothing?
It’s not like I did nothing at all. There was lots of family time as we
celebrated four Christmases. I read nine books, got to be a full-time parent
for a bit, played a round of disc golf, and did some stuff that needed to be
done. But I also spend so much free-time
accomplishing nothing. Maybe that’s my
issue. Not that I did nothing, but that I
accomplished nothing.
I’m a night owl and it seems I spent hours, playing Candy
Crush, surfing the web, reading inane articles about the Broncos (and the
resulting comments/flame wars), or watching dumb stuff on TV. “I should be sleeping! This is dumb, why am I
staying up so late? At least do some writing or plan the rest of the school
year.” These were the thoughts I berated
myself with often: and then I just kept on doing nothing. While I did nothing, at least I was really
tired the next day. What was the point
of it all?
I am still trying to figure that out. It’s not like I do nothing only during
breaks. There are way too many wasted
hours in my life and I have so much to do, or that I should do, or could do? There are books to write, blogs to respond
to, love poems to craft, art to practice, businesses to start, events to
organize, dreams to realize.
Am I really taking time to recharge my introverted self
after an extroverted job or am I actually doing nothing?
I like the simplicity of just taking about ding nothing. It never really occurred to me as something you could talk about. I like the ending also.
ReplyDeleteI agree with JP, the ending is quite wonderful. I also really like the juxtaposition between Roosevelt's activity and your own doing-nothingness.
ReplyDeleteDoing nothing isn't so bad because sometimes doing nothing is a good way to get away from the normal bustle of life and, like you said you can spend time with family. The problem begins when doing nothing becomes boring.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to that a lot. I also like the end and I just think it kind of funny about how much you go into detail about doing nothing. I really like the picture
ReplyDeleteI also have an issue with doing nothing for the entire break, but once I get off of break, I get a lot of stuff done, be it reading, work, cleaning, whatever.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone and I like the end
ReplyDelete