Apologies for my lack of noise. Having enjoyed the luxury of idleness while on my break in France, I had intended to write about it on my return...but I've been too busy!
We had a wonderful trip, with my brief spells of idleness interspersed with bouts of gentle usefulness. The perfect combination really. My favourite kind of days are ones when I get the balance of laziness and activity just right - so satisfying.
You see I confess to being inherently lazy. I may have mentioned it before, but I have spent the last year practising idleness. And it takes practice. This time last year I decided to give myself the opportunity to be idle - just to see what it was like.
I'm the opposite of a swan - all the action is on the surface and below there's a whole lot of daydreaming and escaping going on. So I thought I'd see what happened when I allowed myself time to do nothing. And this is what I found:
As I forced myself to desist my constant 'faffing', I found that my head cleared and my daydreaming began to materialise. I was inspired by my hero Elvis to get creative again. Being nervous about testing out my artistic abilities after such a long absence, I stuck my toe in the water with some collage.
Yes, that's a posh word for sticking bits of paper and stuff together to make a picture. Great fun! I had sequins and fabric and glitter pens and coloured paper and lots of glue. I was in my element. I felt just as I did when I was a kid planning my creative campaign for the summer holidays.
The time spent elbow deep in stuff was the most therapeutic experience I'd had in a long time. While I cut and stuck and created, my mind was free to be still for the first time in years. And it is true what I have read about the need for space, for stillness, if we are to allow the influence of a higher power/ Source/ God in.
I think it was Dr Wayne Dyer who I heard describe life thus: Imagine our life as a pond. If the surface is disturbed it is difficult to detect the nuances. But if the pond is still, we are able to detect the smallest change.
In the same way that a proper meditative state allows the white noise of day to day life to recede, so idleness can offer the same benefits. As Deepak Chopra once said, God is in the spaces. Space to think, space to create, space to just be.
My holiday in France was so relaxing I even had time to read a book. George Michael's biography from 1990 was lying around and so I thought it might be worth a look - the Eighties and Wham being my era. I finished it on the day we left, rushing to read the last few pages before our departure.
And I'm glad I did. In summing up his life so far, George Michael talked about passion for songwriting and dislike of touring. Long concert tours dissipated his energy and drained him of his enthusiasm. He had realised that songwriting is his talent, his gift and that deserves to be protected. He would not be fulfilling his potential or giving his best to his fans if he continued.
His clarity and sense impressed me and made me think about my own talents and potential. I have spent most of my adult life wasting huge amounts of energy just in motion. And now I find that the old adage of "more speed, less haste" is indeed true.
Having had the luxury of practising idleness for a year, I now find I have given myself the time to work out what is important to me. And, as I'm sure you've heard said, we are programmed to "do what we love well, and love what we do well."
Having time to take stock of my life and figure out my priorities, strengths and weaknesses has saved me a lot of time and improved my quality of life immeasurably.
Why don't you try for yourselves and see what happens?
Laura x
