A popular tv chef said that once.
He could only rest while doing something.
Truth be told, fellow writers, I found him a bit intense but today… today I understand.
It’s the last day before I start the day job. There’s a pile of novels beside me, a notebook nearby. In front of me, soft daylight brightens the colours in the backyard. So many flowers.
Right there on the deck, there’s a pretty comfortable chair and a pretty comfortable cushion in the shades of the trees. It started to smell like autumn.
A beautiful day off to enjoy outside the house.
Well, I was supposed to enjoy the beautiful outside that is.
But.
Sitting still on that with a fun novel wouldn’t do, see? In order to tone my creeping stress down, I had to do something.
And what better thing to do than work on a novel and on a blog post while doing research and groceries online while listening to a radio show…
Yeah, something quickly went wrong.
Too Much Sometimes Is – Yep! – Too Much
It’s Labor Day in North America today.
A few years back, it meant pretty much everyone had the day off.
Not anymore. Lucky ones have the day off today. Why can’t national holidays be a time for everyone to rest and get together and enjoy life?
Next year, it’s almost certain I will be missing out on the beautiful pre-autumn weather.
I’ll be working!!
I was aware of it but somehow it took a comment from my kiddo to truly stop myself and realized I was overdoing it.
« Maman, tu es comme la maman-pieuvre dans le livre de bibliothèque! »
Mom, kiddo said, you’re like the octupus-mama from the library book.
First, I laugh, hoping at least my hair looked better than in the book.
Second, I took a breather and calm the heck down.
How to Rest in Action Without Overdoing It
I’ve learned through therapy there was such a thing as active meditation.
The technique is fairly simple. Instead of focusing on your breathing, you focus on the way your muscles react when you make a fist or move your toes.
I was too restless to give active meditation a try, but I could take a pick among all the things I wanted to do just because most of my time would not be mine anymore. It will belong to a business, for an honest hourly rate and social advantages.
I decided to set a limit of one hour for each thing I needed to do and discarted what was not an immediate necessity, like research and listening to the radio.
An hour for writing this blog post was followed by playing at throwing cardboard airplanes with the kiddo for a bit.
Everything went smoothly for the rest of the day, even though it was not perfect.
I did let the kiddo have way too much screen time, but for my own sake and sanity, there was no way around it.
Now, time to wrap it up and try to sleep before our lives take a new course, yet again…
Take of yourself, thanks for stopping by!
Marie Alice Writes & Reads 