The Indispensible Usefulness of Idleness, Solitude, and Daydreaming

by | Oct 21, 2016 | Guest Post, Rhythms of Rest

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From a park bench, beneath a canopy of trees, I hear the distant sound of an ambulance siren and birds chirping in their various “dialects.” A middle-aged couple walks by, heads down, as if I am invisible.

Yellow leaves pirouette six feet above my head onto the pages of my journal. Tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . tic-tic-tic . . . tic-tic-tic . . . raindrops begin to fall, and before I can put my pen and journal inside my bag, the rain ceases.

Pulling out a cardigan, I wrap it around my shoulders, when a cool breeze chills and blows hair into my face. The sun slowly shifts, creating shadows, a signpost in nature that pulls my mind back to obligation.

Fall has finally arrived here in Austin, Texas where balmy sandal weather has overextended her welcome. I’ve spent the last two days speaking, hugging friends, and signing books on a Turquoise Table while acorns hail from the heavens.

Today, as I fly to North Carolina in preparation for Nest Fest, I’m over at Emily Freeman’s sharing about the usefulness of idleness, solitude, and daydreaming. I’ll be practicing a little of all of them at a high altitude. Join us here. Follow me on Instagram for pics throughout the book tour for Rhythms of Rest.

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1 Comment

  1. ann

    I once heard a preacher say that “our rest was a weapon.” I have often thought about that and wondered what that meant or how it could be true. Reading your writing, I think that maybe rest is our weapon against the world’s values. Where we firmly stand with God against the push for busyness and performance. Where we rest in God and place our trust in Him when Satan keeps whispering “now what are you going to do, now how are you going to solve, fix, escape this?” We rest and say “I don’t have to, God is in charge, I will pause and wait on Him.” Then we just ignore Satan an focus on God. This fuzzy for me right now, but after reading your writing, I had a excellent chance to try this out as we are leaving our home for an extended period of time, with only 2 days notice. I felt every urge to panic, worry, plan and do, instead, I planned some, prayed, rested, did some more and rested, knowing God will show me what and how and give me the energy for the need to be done. So instead of worrying right now, I write to say how blessed I am by your writing. I aim to take this Sabbath Rest seriously and see how God shows me that rest is a weapon. I plan to recover my sense of fun and play, putting my adulting down and letting God be my good father.

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