RIDING DRAG

RIDING DRAG
Part of the Mare Herd at the 4DH Ranch in Oklahoma. For More Works by Debra Coppinger Hill Click Image.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

RIDING DRAG / ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

Once in awhile I run away. I grab a bag, I get in the truck and I come to Colorado with my husband where he is currently working. I like hiding up here. The scenery is distinctly different from the flat-lands of Oklahoma. Even the hills of the Osage or the tree-filled areas around Tahlequah cannot compare to real mountains. I hold nothing against my home state it is simply at times I crave tall peaks to which snow still clings even in June; the temperature of 78 much preferred over the muggy 97 I hear they are having back home today.


There are things I do not see often when I am home. Here I will venture out to the farmer’s market, to the Navajo square and the Pow-Wow going on at the fairgrounds. I don’t do that at home. A myriad of chores call to me, errands demand my attention and I cannot make myself simply sit back and waste time.

Wasting time is rejuvenating. We all need it, but so few of us take the time to give ourselves those moments involve nothing. Long ago I recall my Dad coming home from his week’s work on Friday enening. He would rush through the chores that absolutely had to be done over the weekend, mowing, household chores, etc., and then he would say ‘Ah, time for nothing!” He laughed, we laughed and we spent the weekend days doing exactly that, nothing.

Sometimes he would throw fishing poles, sleeping bags and food in the car and we would take off on a ‘they went that-a-way’ adventure. He would let my brother and me taking turns deciding which way to go at certain intersections. We ended up in a lot of interesting places and we always had fun. We did nothing and we loved it.

So in that very spirit I did this very same thing this last week. I make no excuses. I needed that time. I needed to do nothing and did. We took off and drove, made a lot of turns for no reason other than we wondered where the road went. My spirit is renewed and I am ready to face the days ahead!

Oh, one more thing I did not do…I did not write a column. Not until this minute anyway. The only thought I put into it has been the thought I used in remembering the fun of doing nothing with my Dad and Mom when we were kids and the fun of the last few days; the fun of doing nothing.

As responsible adults we often feel that to have fun is to not get our work done. If we are doing nothing we could not possibly be accomplishing what the world and the powers-that-be think we should. For the most part we feel that we must be given permission to go do nothing and further permission to not feel bad about it. Let me help you with this.

(Fill in the blank)__________ has my permission to spend the next few days doing nothing. That means absolutely, positively nothing what so ever. And in addition to doing nothing, they are totally absolved of any feelings of guilt for doing such. Signed, Debra Coppinger Hill.

There, isn’t that better? Now, go! Nothing is waiting.


Contact Debra Coppinger Hill at ridingdrag@gmail.com

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