Idle Minds

With spring finally here, I found myself sitting on the swing on my deck, my dog lolling beside me, both of us soaking up the strengthening sun. Work to do, much of it, as it is for everyone, awaited me. But I've learned that relaxing in the sun or in the shade away from the summer's heat, letting the mind wander over . . . no, just letting the mind wander and wonder is sometimes the smartest thing I can do.

Lexi, my dog, yawned, making a soft sound from the throat that's universal: ah, argh, ah, a little whine and she's done. She laid her head in my lap and dozed. I stroked her head and felt the boney point on the top and wondered: why does she have that pointy nodule there? Is that normal . . . no wait. That's thinking. Let that go. The dog has it right. Doze in the sun.

As a writer, I'm constantly watching, listening, thinking, evaluating, absorbing, judging, reacting, wondering: can I use this somehow in my writing? It's constant. I do it in my sleep. But once in a while I wake. Truly wake. And let everything go. That's when I find myself on my swing, my dog beside me, M & Ms melting in my hand and letting the mind go idle. It's a recharging, a rejuvenating, a releasing of tensions, worries, duties, worries.

I recommend it, especially now that spring is here. Just sit and listen to the bird song, turn your face to the sun, loll, if you can. Take a cue from your dog. Let no thought enter your mind that contraries you. After a while . . . well, you'll know when it's time to go in. You won't even have given it deep thought. You'll just know.

Cat

Comments

[Phyllis Wilson Moore]

"contraries you" is so prefect. Nothing contraries me except the WILD AND WONDERFUL stack of books waiting inside.

I like this quote from Maude Casey,"I was born with a reading list I'll never finish." I found it in a "gift" book, THE BOOK LOVER'S COOKBOOK: RECIPES INSPIRED BY CELEBRATED WORKS OF LITERATURE AND THE PASSAGES THAT FEATURE THEM.