Sunday 8 May 2011

The art of doing nothing (and loving it)

Hi, thank you for all your very generous comments on my flower power brooches, I certainly had fun making them and now wearing them xox

I don't know about you, but as I work 32 hours a week sometimes I just don't like having plans on the weekends, I like to leave room for no commitment and allow the wind to blow us in whatever direction we are meant to go.

One of the most irritating questions that anyone can ask me is "Are you doing anything for the weekend?". Now that can make me sound like a real grump and miserable old thing but I like love the ART of DOING NOTHING! This is something I learnt from one of my dear friends called Rose who I only speak to once every 2 years or so now (we shared a flat in Brighton together for 2 years in the late 1990'S). She consequently went on to study to become an Occupational Therapist and is now thriving in her work in Mental Health.

Nothing is never nothing despite being defined as the concept that describes the abscence of anything: no thing. I am blessed with all my senses and sometimes being still and planning / doing nothing is a very valuable thing to me. While being still I can see, hear, smell, feel and taste :0)  So when someone who has the best intentions (I know! Don't be a nasty person Penelope!!!)) asks me what I'm doing over the weekend I always have a slight panic or "sense of duty" to come up with some amazing outing / activity that's going to be a thrill or adventure BUT then I come to my senses and say NOTHING .... that freaks em out!

NOTHING = SPONTANEITY
and that is exactly what happened yesterday, I took Alice and her friend Katie to the Brighton Festival children's parade and we had a grand day out!

You know you are in Brighton when...



You can lie on the grass of the Pavilion gardens and listen to a Sitar being played



Watch a man playing a violin whilst walking on a tightrope


Watch a flying lady attached to a giant bubble ball



Being in the throngs of the children's parade


Going for a compulsory ride on the carousel



Stopping for a bite to eat and a drink at The Dorset in the heart ofthe bohemian North Lanes and listen to some street jazz


Followed by a mummy compulsary stop at my all time favourite shop : Blackout a shop filled to the brim with kitsh, folkart and natural fibre clothes ( I bought all my maternity dresses here, the softest, raw cotton clothes in the world :0)




Where I couldn't come away with no purchases.... a lot of my jewelry is from this shop which is originally from India and I have a collection of different silver earings and beads which I wear and so these became mine much to my delight and thanks to some birthday money


The stainless silver heart will also join my little Mexican collection, don't get me started on how much  I adore mexican design!

And so you know you are in Brighton when you won't be stared at when knitting in public (this is sock #2)


And so we come to the end of part of my weekend. I hope you managed to do nothing too this weekend :0)

See you all soon xxx

7 comments:

  1. Yes! I did manage to do nothing! And ended up having my best friends around to tea with fizzy wine :) Love the carousel photo - I still think of it as the "up and down horses" which I always called it when I was little...

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  2. I love Brighton - its one of our favourite places to visit. Hoping to fit in a weekend there later this summer :)

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  3. looks like a lovely weekend! I agree, its good to have your days free so you can have fun making it up as you go along!
    Looking forward to seeing those beautiful lacey socks!
    XXXXX

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  4. Doing 'no thing' thrills me, that means I can do whatever my heart sings out to do, mainly snuggled on the couch knitting or a spot of crochet, or catching up with blogs, you know what I mean.
    x Sandi

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  5. I always think of doing nothing as doing things I find relaxing, like knitting. I know what you mean about that question, I'm afraid I just say I don't have anything planned, which always seem to disappoint as an answer! I suppose it's just a question meant to draw us out into conversation at the end of the day. Love Vanessa xxx

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  6. I remember weekends doing nothing... I miss them. I thought as my children got older and more independent there would be even more weekends filled with nothing. But it seems quite the opposite??? I think I will have to start putting a little effort into planning weekends to do nothing. Spontaneity is just what I have been missing. Thanks for sharing your weekend with us. Looks like so much fun! :)

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  7. Bliss - the best place on the planet. I have fond memories of daydreaming in Pavillion gardens, heavily pregnant (actually turned out a day later she was born) eating cake and watching a fire eater. The joy on the girls faces on the carousel is lovely to see. What a great day you had.

    X

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