The Concept of Loafing

I'm quoting from Ariel Gore, who is quoting from someone, possibly Adrienne Rich, but "it takes a lot of loafing to fill in verb here."

She was talking about writing, Gore was talking about raising kids.

And today, I'm talking about happiness and mental health. Brought to you by the good folks at Eli-Lilly. Just kidding.

Today, I just couldn't hack much. I didn't have a bug or ache to hang my hat on, unless you count exhaustion and ennui of a general sense. Winter blahs, perhaps.

But today, when I went to drag my sorry ass out for a run, I just...couldn't...do it.

I mean, I turned around and went home. And crawled into bed.

Now as someone who has depressive tendencies, this is not always the prudent choice.

However, today, I really was tired. I ran eight miles yesterday, went to the grocery along with everyone in the tri-state area, apparently, and cleaned my house. (Then wasted part of my life watching a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.)

So for today, I loafed.

I read, watched What the Buck on YouTube (an instant happiness booster, FYI) and just lay around.

Because I'd hit that level of exhaustion where I was just basically going to be a full on pain in the ass all day to everyone around me if I didn't get some rest.

So I rested.

In Hip Mama Survival Guide, Ariel Gore says, "If it's all you can do some days to get up in the morning, just get up."

So that's what I did. That's ALL I did.

So maybe we should be scheduling loafing days into our lives. Days when you don't have to do anything UNLESS YOU WANT TO.

It wasn't a laugh riot, or super fun, but I rested. And now I feel better, and ready for the week to come.

Let's hear it for The Loaf!