The Joy of Doing Nothing

I don't often do nothing.  I don't know how to simply do nothing.  My husband  says he has never seen me sit completely still and watch a movie.  I always have to be in motion somehow-- accomplishing something-- putting pictures in a scrap book or folding laundry. I don't know if  people still darn socks, but if they did, I suppose I'd be darning socks with one of those wooden  eggs.   But as an overachiever, Type A list maker, I'm going to say right now that we all need to learn how to do nothing.  Sometimes, anyway. Right now, I'm at a little farmhouse in upstate New York where I spent every summer of my life. This is a place that slows me down.  I believe that we must all have a place that takes us down a few paces, slows our gait, forces us to take a deep breath and notice the color of the sky. Right now there is a fire going.  We took a steep hike up to the top of a mountain.  We'll play a board game later.   And so we are watching a movie -- Disney's "Ice Princess"  about a brainiac who decides to become an ice skater.  I'm telling you all of this to prove that I am, in fact, paying attention.   No multi-tasking here for me.    "You don't have your lap top Mom," my daughter said to me approvingly and I snuggled closer on the couch. This was how I wanted them to remember me, not hunched over emails or distracted and fractured into little pieces and pulled in 20 directions. I'm smart enough to know that I have too many demands on my time to do this every day.  There are meals to cook and dishes to wash, homework to help with and doctor's appointments to drive to.  Oh, and there is my job too.  Can't forget about that. But just for this weekend, I am "most revered Mom."  I've hiked and I've baked and snuggled and walked the dogs.  I've sat through a  movie with a plot so predicatable we made a game out of guessing the next lines.  And right when i finish this blog, I'm going to go and do nothing again.  And I'm happy to report it feels pretty darned good.

Click to read more ...

Welcome to my website

So here it is. My first website. You found me and I’m so glad you did. Lee Woodruff.com. Kind of scary. Like a brand: a type of ketchup, pantyhose or fabric softener. And there is a huge part of me, with only two books under my belt that feels like a complete fraud having a website at all. Don’t you have to BE somebody to have a website? But here I am, a techno-peasant who has plunged into the world of on-line communications and I’m thrilled to be able to communicate with you, show you some of my work and listen to what you have to say as well. I will try to keep this blog updated on a regular basis. I can honestly say that over the past two years, after the publication of In an Instant I have been honored to meet so many individuals and families who are facing their own challenges that life has hurled at them. When someone has read the book, one of the biggest compliments I hear is when that person tells me that they can imagine we might be friends if we lived in the same town. As a writer, it is an honor to think about the connections made to everyone who reads something I wrote. It’s humbling. I hope that with this new book, Perfectly Imperfect and with the first book, In an Instant, I have captured some of the many, commonalities in simply being a wife, mother, caregiver, sister, daughter, working woman, friend and all the many other ways we define ourselves. I also invite you to contact me with your story. Sometimes just the act of sharing opens people up to continue healing or simply feeling part of a greater community. And now – a list of this week’s fun words to say. I’m a word-collector and so when I come across a word I like, or dislike, (some of these are parts of the male anatomy involved in reproduction ) I add it to a list. These are my current fun words: Chucklehead Thatch Cinnamon Destruction Lycra Naturally Lycra is the key ingredient in Spanx. Now most of you gals know what Spanx are. I like to tell my husband they are sausage casing for the female form. A modern kind of girdle. You are looking nice and tight in your clothes and then BAMM – when you peel the body stocking off at bedtime it’s like Cup-O-Noodles after you add the hot water. Some secrets are best not shared. Lastly -- Do you twitter? Now you have a good reason to... With Memorial Day coming up-- I'd love for you to Join me and Tweet to ReMIND Tweet for Injured Troops on Memorial Day Weekend ReMIND.org's goal is to mobilize 400,000 Twitter users over Memorial Day weekend (Friday, May 22, to Monday, May 25). We want to send a message of support to the troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families, and raise $1.65 million for local support services and resources to assist their recovery from the physical and psychological wounds of war. Each Twitter user must Tweet at least four times in order to attain our goal. Let our service members and military families know that you recognize the sacrifices they have made. Pledge now. Tweet to ReMIND on Memorial Day weekend! http://tweettoremind.org/ Tweets for Tweet to ReMIND must include the hashtag #tweettoremind.

Click to read more ...