A Body at Rest: On Vegging out, Tuning in, and Doing it all Consciously

Hi sweet friends!  Before I begin - a vital inquest: are any readers suffering from wacky winter sleep patterns? For those of you sweet enough to ask me how I've managed to post almost daily... it's because I've lately been waking up every hour on the hour all night long, and I usually give up by 4 a.m. It's sort of lovely to have a solid hour or two for coffee, breakfast and sweeping out brain trash (Christolf™), but I fear my skin will soon lose it's youthful luster and my fair eyeballs, unused to so much computer time, will simply plop out. Plop. Plop. Like so. Is that disgusting? I'm sorry, 4 a.m. Rose is a maniac! But I have been thinking about rest... here goes.

Most of us have finally realized that, as creatively functioning human beings, we need downtime - time in which to do nothing. Now, I am no vegging virgin: I've been known to OWN a Gilmore Girls marathon and... can I just say it? I live in a studio. I eat half of my meals in bed. But here's the caveat: what we really need is guilt free downtime, and I'm far less well versed in that realm.

If you're anything like me, you always have things you should be doing, and let me tell you, a rest spent berating yourself for the unchecked entries on your to-do list is no rest at all.

We need goals - we do. But we don't need to be actively approaching them all the damn time. Example: I've been using Sunday as my go-to get sh*t done day in recent months. But as you know, I was not my best on Sunday. It happens, right? But when it happens to me, I am furious with myself for "wasting a day." I didn't make any career goals happen. I didn't do laundry, or return ill-fitting shoes, or go to the dry cleaners or prep tupperware lunches for the week. I didn't do my nails or pluck my eyebrows or scrub my countertops or make this pizza for the Superbowl. I crawled back into bed after spin class and watched three episodes of Project Runway. The hora!

I love being productive. At the end of a fruitful day, I love to congratulate myself for all the energy I put forth just before, overwhelmed by my own awesomeness, I nod off. But an unproductive day is  not wasted if you lounge purposefully: if you acknowledge that you are deserving of respite and you can make your dreams happen in a clean apartment some other time. Keep your goals realistic and flexible and if you have the opportunity to veg; veg girl, veg!

And another thing: if you have intentions on that list that you never get to; that exist in writing simply to mock you i.e. do ten minutes of ab work every night and meditate every morning (ha! double ha!) cross those off and never speak of them again! I have very little interest in either of those activities ever, much less daily, and the truth is... I don't want to do them. Nor do I especially want to sing every day - which was a very public New Year's resolution I made. Meh. If you're no longer feeling a particular ambition, drop it and know that you can always come back to it later. There. More mental recuperation time for you.

Relax, sweet friends. I'm certain that you've earned it. And pounce on that to-do list once you've regained that get'er done 'tude of yours.

Does anyone else struggle with idleness? I'd love to hear your story!

XOXO,
Rose