I love this poem. And I’d forgotten it. Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been at my wood since Wednesday and I’m very much into the sit and stare period. Listening to birds. Watching the shadows move on the path. Feeling the warmth on my body.
Thanks Denise. I’m not convinced doing is necessarily bad or a reflex. For me, retirement has opened my mind in many new direction and doing feels alive.
One of the reasons I wrote this was that I’d deliberately gone away after the launch of ThriveSpan. I’m someone who has often found it very difficult just to be. I’ve always been a productive person, so spending time without an agenda was an interesting experience in itself.
I don’t think doing is bad at all. In fact, I think doing can be deeply life-giving when it comes from curiosity, joy or purpose. I was really questioning the assumption that every hour has to justify itself. Sometimes there’s value in allowing ourselves moments that don’t need to lead anywhere.
I suspect we’re closer in our thinking than it might first appear. It sounds as though retirement has given you the freedom to explore new directions, and that kind of doing feels very different from feeling driven to be productive all the time.
Hi Denise, I too think we are very much alike in our thinking! and I felt your story reflected a need to rest and take a pause. I’m glad you did! And I agree that sometimes there’s a great value in a refresh.
I can still struggle at times but it is getting easier. Today, at the wood, I’ve done the absolute minimum. Mainly lazed in a hammock. Listening to the birds and watching the leaves move in the breeze. More tired than usual now. X
Denise, your latest post reminded me of the poem ‘Leisure’ by the Welsh ‘tramp’ poet, W H Davies…
Leisure
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?-
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
W H Davies
I love this poem. And I’d forgotten it. Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been at my wood since Wednesday and I’m very much into the sit and stare period. Listening to birds. Watching the shadows move on the path. Feeling the warmth on my body.
Thanks Denise. I’m not convinced doing is necessarily bad or a reflex. For me, retirement has opened my mind in many new direction and doing feels alive.
Hi Judi,
One of the reasons I wrote this was that I’d deliberately gone away after the launch of ThriveSpan. I’m someone who has often found it very difficult just to be. I’ve always been a productive person, so spending time without an agenda was an interesting experience in itself.
I don’t think doing is bad at all. In fact, I think doing can be deeply life-giving when it comes from curiosity, joy or purpose. I was really questioning the assumption that every hour has to justify itself. Sometimes there’s value in allowing ourselves moments that don’t need to lead anywhere.
I suspect we’re closer in our thinking than it might first appear. It sounds as though retirement has given you the freedom to explore new directions, and that kind of doing feels very different from feeling driven to be productive all the time.
Hi Denise, I too think we are very much alike in our thinking! and I felt your story reflected a need to rest and take a pause. I’m glad you did! And I agree that sometimes there’s a great value in a refresh.
Yes! Sitting doing nothing feels like idleness to me. After a lifetime of ‘doing’ I find it hard to just ‘be’.
I can still struggle at times but it is getting easier. Today, at the wood, I’ve done the absolute minimum. Mainly lazed in a hammock. Listening to the birds and watching the leaves move in the breeze. More tired than usual now. X
Yes.