the gift of nothing.

Because tomorrow is my birthday, I've decided to give myself the best gift possible: the gift of nothing (no, not the book--although it is good). That is, the gift of DO nothing. I have a full day planned of:

• staying in my pajamas until at least noon
• enjoying my first cup of coffee buried under a warm pile of blankets and cats and a dog
  
• lighting a fire in the fire place
• eating lots of fruit or nachos or whatever I want
  
• lounging around on the couch for hours on end
  
• reading books and magazines and watching really stupid tv
• going out for either a late brunch or maybe dinner with my husband
• spending as much time as I'd like in the aisles of a book store
• a nice long bout of journal writing
  
• and a whole lot of n o t h i n g ...oh, wondrous NOTHING!

This, I'm finding, is a very difficult thing for me to do. But in order to evade the temptation of productivity (the doom of any and all relaxation), there are rules to my do-nothing day. They are:

• I may NOT feel guilty about doing nothing
• I may NOT feel like I should do something because it needs to get done
• I may NOT cook, clean, or run errands
  
• I may NOT use my time wisely in any way
  
• I may NOT do anything work, thesis, work, or other work related
• I may NOT worry about what time it is
  
• And, once again (because I'm a slow learner), I may NOT feel guilty about doing nothing.

...but I suppose that I should clarify that by "nothing," what I really mean is ANYTHING! Tomorrow I get to do anything I want, but the thing I really want to do the most is enjoy a nice sized dose of nothin' at all.

Want to join me? I cordially invite you to lavish yourself with complete laziness and absolute comfort. Oh, sweet Sunday birthdays! Lazy, lazy, wonderful Sunday.... ;)