Doing "nothing" is okay!

As many of my readers know, I have a rather unusual hobby as a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. It's one of the things that brings balance to my life. But it wasn't always so. When I first started with the Society, my new friends had to work at teaching two very vital lessons.

The first was that doing "nothing" was okay. Coming from a job where there was never enough time to get everything done, I was pretty good at multi-tasking and filling time with productive tasks. Even my lunch breaks were usually devoted to catching up on my technical reading. So it was a real shock to my system to have to just sit and watch an activity or just chat about nothing consequential with a group of friends. It took a while, but I learned that socializing with good friends was not "doing nothing" but was in fact one of the most pleasurable things I could do.

I'm by nature a planner. Tell me you want to do something and I'm already thinking through options of how to get it done. This has its advantages in a social setting but one of the other things I've learned (and am still learning, thanks to a new friend!) is to let it go and enjoy spontaneity. Things don't always work out as well as if I'd meticulously planned them - sometimes they actually work out much better.

So whatever you do for relaxation, don't over plan and fill each moment with activity. Take time to enjoy the surprises that come from the combination of good friends and good times. Be open to surprises.