What If We Didn’t Accomplish Anything Today?

After a busy month of writing for the blog challenge, 31 posts in 31 days, I think my brain is a little fried. And then there was last week.

I spent five days at a crafting retreat in a beautiful country setting, surrounded by friends and, of course, lots of crafting supplies. It was a relaxing week, but I also went with a mission. I wanted to make a dent in my ever-growing pile of pictures. And I did. I sorted through pictures, created scrapbook pages, and came home with a smaller picture pile than the one I left with. There is something very satisfying about looking at a stack of photographs and actually seeing it get smaller.

But perhaps my brain and body decided that enough was enough.

For the last couple of days, I haven't had much motivation to do anything. My craft supplies are still sitting by the front door waiting to be put away. The laundry is waiting beside the washing machine. The house could definitely use some cleaning. The garage is still filled with all the items we spent a couple of months purging.

And yet here I sit.

I have no particular desire to get up and tackle any of it. Do I feel bad about that? Yes and no.

Part of me looks at this beautiful, completely free day and thinks I should be doing something with it. I could put away the craft supplies. I could do some laundry. I could clean the house. I could work on another scrapbook page. There are always things that could be done.

But another part of me is quite content right where I am.

I have a cup of tea beside me, and I'm sitting looking out the window at the beautiful maple tree just outside. The squirrels are running up and down the branches, chasing each other around. There is nothing I need to be doing at this particular moment.

And you know what?

Maybe that's okay.

One of the things I thought retirement would give me was more time. And it has. But I've discovered that having more time doesn't necessarily mean I have to fill every minute of it.

It's surprisingly easy to turn retirement into another version of being busy. There are always projects to finish, places to go, things to organize, hobbies to pursue, cleaning to do, and laundry to fold. Even when there is no actual deadline, we can create one in our own heads.

But maybe we don't need to.

Maybe there are days when the most productive thing we can do is absolutely nothing.

I know that when I give myself permission to stop, I feel better. I recharge physically, mentally and emotionally. And somehow, after a little time doing nothing, I often find that I have more energy and motivation to get back to the things that need doing.

There is something strangely satisfying about resting when there is nothing that needs to be done. But there is perhaps an even greater satisfaction in resting when there are things that could be done and choosing not to do them.

The laundry isn't going anywhere. The craft supplies will still be by the door tomorrow. The house will still need cleaning.

Today, though, I think I might just sit here a little longer with my tea and watch the squirrels.

Maybe I don't need to accomplish anything today.

And maybe that's one of the best things about retirement.