The glory of doing nothing at all

A short one, because I've got the sh*ts (sorry)

Trees, in my local park, doing ‘nothing’

Hello! A little, sweet one from me today, as I have been shitting soup for 36 hours. Sorry, I know that’s crude, but I gotta let Text Lucy take over sometimes. (You can read all about her, my straight-talking alter ego, here.)

Anyway, yesterday I did absolutely nothing: I sat around in my garden in my pyjamas, I lay on the sofa reading about art in my pyjamas, I put the bins out in my pyjamas, and then I showered and got ready for bed (in clean pyjamas).

I wasn’t well, but there was something glorious about doing nothing - and feeling like I was allowed to.

One thing I love about my childfree/freelance life is its variety. At best, it is wide-open, bright green, dance-inducing and creatively juicy. I love being busy and saying ‘yes,’ but, at times when I’m rather too busy, my mind whirrs a little too much and it’s not conducive to letting my imagination go wild.

I’ve had rather a jam-packed couple of weeks and am under a pile of work, so a day of rest was a welcome relief.

One piece I read yesterday was an essay in the New York Times about the ways in which artists are ‘perpetual beginners,’ and about how some well-known artists kind of ‘came out’ and began their craft. (You can read it via this gift link here.)

The lesson is that you have to have tenacity plus talent to make it creatively. It also made me ponder: I’m still learning about life, so who am I to impose my ‘art’ (my writing) on anyone?

And yet here I am, showing up every week, learning my craft in public. And, in the spirit of giving myself a little breathing space, I won’t be writing to you next week. I will be in the wilds of the Black Mountains in Wales visiting family and letting life unfold…

So that is all from me, but here are some things I like from others:

Lyrical honesty

Lily Allen, the singer and actor, appeared on BBC radio programme This Cultural Life on Saturday night, talking about the art that has inspired her. Lily’s song lyrics are often open and fun, and on this show she talks honestly about marriage and motherhood, being the child of famous parents and how she writes songs.

One of my favourites is Not Fair – just listen to those words. And don’t forget, this is the woman who was too embarrassed to admit to having had liposuction, so once she said she’d had a hip replacement instead…

Single at heart

The writer Bella DePaulo is in her 70s and has been single – by choice – her whole life. She wrote a piece on what’s great about that last year for HuffPo, and there’s also a very funny story on her blog called ‘How to be OK with being married – it’s not the end of the world just because you’re not single’.

It’s a tongue-in-cheek response to all the zillions of advice articles about how single people can accept their ‘status’ in life.

Who are you, really?

This piece in the Guardian by Moyer Sarner is about how to tune into your inner voice, and asks: ‘Notice when you find yourself assessing, or judging, or picking a side, and wonder: why? See if you can listen instead.’ This is about getting to know your true self, and, she concludes: ‘Building a better life begins with being as truthful to yourself as you can, and listening to whatever it is you find.’

Art recommendations

I’m fortunate enough to be writing about art as one of my day jobs, and going to see Beryl Cook / Tom of Finland at London’s Studio Voltaire was a naughty recent highlight. And, on Friday I chatted to the experimental artist Lauren Baker over video call - her talent, tenacity and personality blew me away, and I hope I can write about her soon.

Thanks for being here, and I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.