Last week, when I said to a colleague, “see you Tuesday,” she replied, “where are you going?” It was as if simply to enjoy where I live or rest or quietly take care of house and garden was not within the range of possibility. Is it that I am somehow not worthy if I have not planned to do something I could talk about when I returned to the office? Or is it that pervasive societal sense that happiness lies only in finding new and more experience?
I think that it is important to have episodic time away from doing. I used to get sick when I’d been running around non-stop with work and errands and exploration, etc. Now I try to take some quiet time at decent intervals. It does not need to be a full day. Just a couple of solid hours without engaging in a planned activity every couple of weeks makes all the difference in my mood, my health, and the quality of my work.
Love the photo (which makes me want to have time away from doing). Where did you take it?
Thanks Dan–
On Capitol Hill, a block west of Eastern Market and six blocks east of the Capitol. I love my neighborhood. I think you usually visit in the Spring or Summer. Fall, too, is as spectacular as Spring in its own way.
E