A. and I had a lazy day on Saturday, and it was nice. That statement might not sound like it means much, but normally I am not very good at lazy days. I crave them when I am busy. I idolize the type of day where I don’t get out of my pajamas. But when it comes down to it and I finally have one, I tend to get antsy partway through it and want nothing more than to get out of the apartment and DO SOMETHING. Unfortunately, that something often turns out to be utterly unnecessary shopping. It’s hard to go out and do something without spending money!
Since we moved a few months ago and I haven’t been working, I’ve had a lot more opportunity for those lazy days. The first month or so I nearly went out of my mind with it. Then, I sort of found my rhythm and started enjoying it. But then, I got some volunteer gigs and all of a sudden felt busy again (even though I wasn’t nearly as busy as I had been when I had a full-time job and a social life)! So Saturday was a welcome break.
I’ve noticed that when you have “nothing” to do, it’s hard to make yourself do the things you “should” do (because in reality, there’s always something to do). When I’m sitting around the apartment all day, it takes a lot of willpower to make myself clean the bathroom or do the laundry, for example, things that, when I’m busy, I always wish I had time to do. I guess it’s inertia-a body engaging in laziness will continue in laziness until acted upon by some outside force. I used to hate that my mom’s response to the inevitable childish “I’m boooored” was to offer me lists of possible things to do. It took some force to break that bored-ness and get me doing!
I’ve also found, though, that when I’m engrossed in a good book, everything about life just seems much better. A good book can keep me on the couch all day with nary a whine. And if I have a short amount of downtime while I’m in the midst of a good book, I get a thrill of excitement that I have a few minutes to go read. When I’m reading a book I’m not enjoying as much, though, in that downtime I’ll avoid picking it up like the plague. I’ll piddle around on my phone. I’ll get on the internet instead. I’ll watch a mindless episode of Army Wives. And none of these satisfies as much as reading my book.
On Saturday, I slept in a bit and read all my Google Reader items. A and I watched FOUR episodes of Friday Night Lights. I watched the last session of the National Swimming Championships that I recorded about a week ago. I finished reading Wicked City (which, by the way, I wasn’t crazy about, but which I also didn’t hate enough to quit reading). And when the antsiness started to hit at around 2:00, I pulled out my sewing machine and did a project I’d had flagged in my bookmarks for awhile! (You’ll get to see it on Nearly Wordless Wednesday.) It was a good way to break the monotony. And I didn’t do anything radical like take a shower or put on anything other than a t-shirt and comfy shorts. All in all, it was a nice day of rest and togetherness.
Are you good at taking a “sabbath?” What are some of your go-to boredom busters?
