I've never been good at doing nothing.
I've always thought, that in the time I'm not at my teaching jobs, I had to be working on my books. Otherwise, I wouldn't be using my time wisely.
But sometimes when I thought I was doing something, I was actually doing nothing.
If the ideas weren't coming I’d force myself to sit at my desk, or beat myself up if I didn't. Then along came Remy. That’s him to the left.
Here's another picture of him.
One day when I was manically flitting from one thing to the next, Remy looked at me and sighed. I think he was saying, “Relax, there's more to life than work alone. How about we go for a walk. It’ll be fun.” Anyway, whatever he said, it worked. I grabbed the leash and off we went.
He was right. It was fun. And totally liberating. Instead of begrudgingly taking him for a walk, thinking I was wasting time, I found myself, pardon the cliche, living in the moment.
And even though, I wasn't thinking about the book I was working on, I somehow solved a problem I was having with it.
Not only, did Remy remind me that I should stop, and smell the roses, (and pick up the dog poo) but also, removing myself from the project I was working on, gave me the space I needed.
Remy reminds me constantly that I can make too many demands on myself. Sometimes it's better to take some time out and just see what happens.
Also, he may just be the main character for my next book.