Mother Pray

Tonight, sitting at my computer listening to the CD "There will be a Light" by Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama (v. good, by the way), I was overwhelmed by the simplicity of song #9 called Mother Pray - a traditional spiritual song:

If I could only hear my mother pray again
If I could hear her tender voice as then
How happy I would be
It would mean so much to me
If I could hear my mother pray again

Listen to it. I am thankful today for a mother who prays. I come from a strong heritage of women who pray. Thank you, my dear mom.

the results of nothing

The doing nothing is not as easy as it sounds. Perhaps it has more to do with finding un-scheduled time and choosing what you want to do...if so, then I am a pro at doing nothing this week. Today, I got out of bed at 9am, read the newspaper over breakfast, talked to my sister who is bored because she actually has to do nothing due to recent surgery, went shopping at H&M, Staples, Michaels and Indigo. Stopped by at the library, borrowed some books and came home for a bite to eat. Tonight is going to be "chock-a-block" full of reading new magazines(a small addiction of mine) and perhaps delving into one of the books from the library... Time really flies when you are not on a schedule and just take life as it come.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had 3 days out of 9 days where I was doing nothing. Today was official day one where I just went where the "wind" blew me. It was lovely not to be rushed but to meander.

On the weekend, I wasn't so much into the doing nothing but I did hermit myself away to paint my bedroom. The color was "Pineapple Sundae" and on the paint chip, it was a lovely pale yellow. On my walls however, it is a "bit" brighter. Using color is a big step for me because I prefer the neutral browns, whites, blues but here's the new look:

Now my room is fresh, bright, organized and clean. Sometimes that is all a girl needs...a sanctuary of her own.

The Beauty of Doing Nothing

The day has arrived - I am on vacation and have 9 glorious days off.

In anticipation of this time-off, I sat down 2 weeks ago and made a list of things I wanted to accomplish during these 9 days. As some of you know, I love making lists. So I scheduled my tasks...they included everything from cleaning my carpets to taking my recycling to the depot to booking a massage to lunch with friends to painting my bedroom and much more.

However, I was absolutely dismayed when I saw how fast my precious 9 days filled up with errands, to-do's and obligations. As much as I love lists, this list left me unsettled.

That same day, I started reading Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love". The author spends 4 months in Italy where she discovers the Italian phrase "il bel far niente" which translates to "the beauty of doing nothing." This phrase hit me like a...I want to say "a bolt of lightning or ton of bricks" but it seems rather cliche. Regardless, the idea of doing nothing shook me to my very being.

Now, I can procrastinate with the best of them and accomplish nothing but that is not the same thing as "doing nothing". If I am procrastinating or not doing anything, I can become overwhelmed with guilt. We live in a world where what you do defines you. So, if I do nothing, am I nothing? Doing nothing would be challenging for me because I like to accomplish things. I like to check things off my list. The busyness energizes me.

After contemplating this idea for awhile, I realized to truly enjoy "the beauty of doing nothing", it boils down to your intent and pleasure derived from it. In light of this revelation, I re-visited my list of things to do. I decided that I would only do things that will bring me pleasure for my time-off. I do want to return to work somewhat rested. So, I took some things off the list and re-organized some other things. I now have 3 days where I have no plans...oh, I can't wait to do nothing intentionally. Perhaps I will go to Banff and do nothing up there...or walk to a coffee shop and doing nothing there for a couple of hours...or sit and listen to the silence for a while.

I have a sneaky suspicion this may be easier said than done but perhaps this is a lesson I need to learn.