The Beauty of Doing Nothing

I’m a list-maker; full-on Type A, get it done or get out kind of mama.

For me, doing nothing is an art form. It has taken years of learning to put down the to-do list, walk away from the dirty dishes, and do all of this in my pajamas.

Even though I swear by a good pair of yoga pants as acceptable attire for almost any event, I also have a sincerely hard time just sitting down and not ‘doing’; doing laundry, doing dishes, doing chores, doing plans for the next day. It is an always constant, never ending to-do.

After a full week of holiday travel, an entire day of unpacking, working, cleaning, and chaos, we looked at each other this morning and realized we had no to-do’s. Sure, there is dirty laundry and a mess in the kids’ room because we live here, but we didn’t have to be anywhere, meet anyone, complete a task, or be at work.

So, against my usual behavior, I rescheduled an event for my website so we could do absolutely nothing. A full day to do anything or nothing at all.

For us, it looked like warm cinnamon rolls for breakfast, long afternoon naps under weighted blankets, boys time with the new vintage Nintendo, making up new recipes, blanket forts, bluegrass dance parties, bon fire, 90s movie night, and making our first ever family bucket list for the new year.

I love to get things done. Some days I add things to my to-do list just so I can get the satisfaction of crossing it off. But today, I did nothing. No work. No client calls. No dishes. No clean up. And zero stress.

Doing nothing leaves room for laughter and memories that might otherwise get squeezed out by our need to finish the list.

While I want to raise responsible kids who are able to see things that need done and take care of things independently, I also hope they see my husband and I take hammock naps and read, have camp fires and dance parties, because it’s in the nothing where the magic happens and memories are made.

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