The Healthy Pursuit of Leisure

 This post from 2020 about sums up my current philosophy, which has evolved to be that something (besides the flu) is wrong when we have to get sick as a dog in order to slow down and appreciate a more leisurely life.   

Last week, I had the flu. I totally confused my Fitbit by blowing my sleep goals out of the water while taking only about a third as many steps as usual. I read, (making progress on my 29 Day Challenge), slept, ate takeout (thanks to my husband, who took my dinner order daily) and watched television. I did an online meeting with my Thursday class and showed up to teach my Friday classes after missing Monday and Wednesday. Laundry piled up, mail kinda got sorted and kinda didn't and the house was a little more cluttered by the end of the week than it had been at the beginning but you know what?

That was about it. I did next to nothing for almost an entire week and everyone survived. Sure, there's catching up to do, but there's always catching up to do.

Admittedly, I'm an empty nester with a self-sufficient spouse in a job I won't lose if I call in sick. These are key reasons why things didn't fall apart just because I did. But, still....

I was lying in bed on Saturday morning when these realizations hit me and made me wonder if it was time to push reset. If I can go nearly a whole week doing almost nothing and my world is no worse for it, maybe, just maybe, all this running around and making lists and racing to the finish line is, well, silly.

I'm not saying I'm going to just curl up in a ball and spend the rest of my life in my pajamas. (I won't). I'm also not saying I'm glad I got the flu (I'm not). What I am grateful for is the perspective it provided.

For a long time now, I've been living my life like I have something to prove, as though packing every day full of action and activity was somehow admirable and expected. While I still believe that productivity is admirable, last week reminded me that it doesn't have to be the only thing. And, while I know that backing up and chilling out will look to some (myself included) like laziness, a little laziness is not always a bad thing. Done right, and in moderation, it can be restful, restorative, and a nudge to creativity.

All things I value.

This week, I will not have the flu (I hope!) My calendar will fill again, especially as I try to make up for things left undone last week. Based on past experience, my likely approach would be to overstuff my schedule in a mad dash to not simply catch up, but get ahead.

But, what if I didn't? What if I left room for a little laziness instead? Not the television-watching, Internet-surfing, social-media-time-suck kind, but the kind that gives me good reason to confuse my Fitbit over those missed steps and gained rest periods. The kind where I actually get to do some of the things I keep wanting to do, but don't seem to find time for.

Maybe it's the flu talking, but it sounds like a great idea to me.

Wishing you a healthy week with a heaping helping of laziness.