Tom Brown Park in Tallahassee FL (CC) Erica Cameron

This weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to head out of town for a friend’s wedding. They held it in a beautiful park in Tallahassee and the weather could not have been more perfect if it had been pre-ordered. Cool, brreezy, sunny, and quiet, all set under a clear blue sky.

Because it had been a couple of years since I’ve seen these friends, I took yesterday off work, forgetting people usually work on Monday. Essentially, I found myself with nothing to do between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and it was wonderful. After dropping my friend off at work so I could use his car, I drove over to Lake Ella and sat in the slightly chilly breeze reading until about noon. I went to lunch with friends, took a nap on the back porch of my friend’s house, and hung out with people I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was one of the most restful days I’ve had this month and I didn’t realize how much I needed a day like that until I was in the middle of it.

Life has a habit of trying to drown you in an avalanche of little things. You can get so caught in trying to keep up that you forget half of those things you’re desperately trying to complete don’t actually matter in the long run. Especially as a writer where your livelihood depends on your ability to think clearly and process those thoughts into pretty, pretty words, taking a day to do nothing and recharge–even in the midst of a deadline crunch (and sometimes especially in the midst of a deadline crunch)–is important. Necessary. Crucial, even. I think it helps even more if you can be some place pretty while doing nothing. At least, it helped me.

Before I run off, I want to note that I probably won’t be posting again until Wednesday of next week. my day job is about to completely take over my life for the next seven days from early hours to way too late. Hopefully my brilliant inspiration-filled ideas hold off until November when I’ll have time to work on them. I hope.

Enjoy your week/weekend! And Happy Halloween in case I don’t see you before then! 🙂