Doing Nothing

This past weekend I went to Moab for a few days.  I needed to get out of the city, needed to reconnect with myself, with my soul, with the rocks and that break-you-open blue sky.  I needed to remember what is important, what is real, and what matters.  Funny how sometimes I let myself get so buried in it all that it takes going out of town and stepping back from the routine for me to find my center.

Rocks and trees and open sky help me feel connected more quickly than anything else I've found, and winter makes it hard sometimes.  I love seasons, but truly, 3 weeks of winter is enough and I'm ready for spring again.  It's easy for me to forget in the winter.  But last weekend I remembered.  I remembered that, even when it's ridiculously cold outside, I need to take care of myself, of my inner self, and there are always things I can do.

It's reading a book in my favorite chair.  It's going for a walk.  It's playing some songs on my guitar.  It's a new plant.  It's building a card tower and then blowing it over, just to watch the way the cards fall.  It's spending time with someone I love.  It's watching a little baby tree grow (I've got a 3-week-old spruce tree in my bedroom and it is currently about 2" tall....it's been the coolest process EVER to watch...).  It's all these small things that bring me back to my little kid self, that open up my creative mind and help me see things with new eyes, as children do.

We are told to grow up and be responsible and get jobs and go to school and...and...and....  But not very often are we told how important it is to allow yourself to do nothing.  It's okay to sit.  It's okay to spend a few  hours puttering around, doing a project or playing with a toy.  I call it moodling, and moodling is one of the most important things I ever do.  I just needed to remember.  Maybe we'd all be a little better off if we allowed ourselves a little do-whatever-the-hell-you-want time everyday?  There is nothing wrong with going out of town to reconnect and get away, but there is also nothing wrong with doing "nothing."  There is power in doing nothing.