I have been seriously looking into this art of being lazy. It seems it is not something that comes naturally to every individual. For some, there must be a series of practice leading up to successfully doing nothing. This is the case for me.

I had always been accused of never sitting still. My mother complained vehemently about it all throughout my youth. My elementary and high school teachers further added their critique to my resume of restlessness. Eventually, my wife and my children would come to mock me anytime we went somewhere where relaxation was supposed to be the call of duty. Cottage stays in our cabin up north frequently turned into work sessions where I would find projects, one after another, to keep myself busy. Admittedly, many of those projects weren’t found, they were created. And if the projects didn’t fill my relaxation time, then work did. I would swear I was not going to respond to that annoying ding on my cell phone as another email or text beckoned me, but seriously, how could I not?

But then I retired and that should have solved the problem. Doing nothing was suddenly almost demanded. What obligations did I still have? But I am a restless person and as such I needed an outlet for all that time. Find somewhere to volunteer, that would fill the need. And so I did and all my old work habits followed me. Now it wasn’t paying clients and employers reaching out to me on vacation, it was non-paying clients and fellow volunteers seeking my time. When would I ever start practicing the art of being lazy? I was too busy to find the time to practice not spending the time getting in the way of my time to be lazy.

I am coming off of two weeks at the cottage with all of my family members in tow. There are nine of us ranging in age from one month to, well, my age. I promised I would be lazy. Week one……FAIL, fixed the deck rail, repaired the pontoon seats, repaired the window screen, and replaced the gas connections on the grill. But in my defense, I had shut down my volunteer job, almost. It was a brief meeting and ended with the warning that I was signing off and was not going to be returning any requests for the next two weeks. So, some success. I might be getting closer.

Here is the good news. After that last project and that last meeting, I did pretty well. No more projects, not even looking for one any more, and some pretty mind numbing do nothing days. Admittedly, three days of rain tended to help, but I hiked with my grandkids, held my newest one as she slept in my arms, and did a little serious fishing. All in all, I felt pretty darn lazy. I might be getting the hang of it.

The art of being lazy is just that, an art. Like all good art, it takes effort to create a masterpiece. I am a far cry from claiming my Davinci of Lazy, but I am making strides, and I might add, enjoying the effort to be effortless. I’d write more but I am being lazy and the campfire demands some serious staring into the flames.