October 1, 2009
“Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering." - Winnie the Pooh , Piglet, Pooh's Little Instruction Book
The other day when I visited my 91-year-old mother in the Alzheimer's special care facility in which she lives, I came away completely awestruck at the conversation I witnessed.
Let's call it a "teaching moment." Hopefully, I learned something, such as the fact that doing nothing can be a remarkable thing.
The discourse at the lunch table in the nursing home went like this.
I spoke first to a gentlemen seated at Mom's table, "Hi Mr. Smith (we'll call him that), what are you doing today?"
"Nothing. What are you doing?" he replied.
I answered, leaving out the uninteresting details of my jammed-packed day ahead, "Well, nothing I guess."
"That's what you should be doing--nothing," someone else added. "It's a No Doing Day."
"Really," I said. "I could use a No Doing Day. I like that! Let's start a club."
Another spoke up immediately and added, "Yes, and we will have no meetings."
Mr. Smith then sternly admonished me, "I don't expect you to show up."
My mother, in an unusual moment of clarity, joined in the conversation turning to me saying, "Kay Jean, you should take a nap."
So upon that directive, we moved to the television room and settled in the recliners to watch Andy Griffith and Mayberry RFD. We both nodded off.
As I was leaving the unit, actually refreshed no doubt from the nap I was ordered to take, one of the staffers winked and then whispered to me, "Yunno, I think Monday may just be a No Doing Day for me."
Reflecting on this interesting afternoon, I could not help but recall a childhood book and one of its many dialogues between Winnie the Pooh and his sidekick Christopher Robin.
Incidently, if you want to brush up on Pooh philosophizing, I recommend the "The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh", in which Pooh emerges as one of the best philosophers of all time. And dear readers, you might also enjoy a look at just-pooh.com where you will find a fascinating history of the "magical world of Pooh".
But as I was saying...
Winnie the Pooh asked Christopher Robin, "How do you do just nothing?"
Christopher Robin: "Well, when grown-ups ask, what are you going to do and you say, nothing, and then you go and do it".
Winnie the Pooh: "I like that. Let's do it all the time."
Well, maybe not all the time, but at least for one day, our very own "No Doing Day".
And naps are good, too.
