If you could spend a dead useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner , you have teach how to exist . — Lin Yutang
When I go to theBoat Ranch , I come back feeling relaxed and pep up — by the curt country air and day of doing nothing , the purity of local nutrient and family metre , and how simply I can live when there are no beguilement .
But simple does n’t mean lacking — in fact , quite the opposite is honest . At the Boat Ranch , I live in a two - room bungalow and cook on a propane stove . I light my way with a lantern and tell time by the Sunday , not by my mobile phone . But I do n’t find myself lose the sumptuousness of life at home … no cluttered closet , or a kitchen packed with pots and pans , or the constant transmission of technology all around me . The sea piece of cake is my ceiling fan . I sit lazily under my palapa and watch sea TV until it ’s sentence to eat or catch a wink or surf .
For a few days by , I stress to tamp down only what I really need . Two two-piece , a pair of boxershorts , a twosome of pant , a T - shirt , a sundress , some sandals , and a warm fleecy layer and fuzzy iron heel for parky nights around the fervency . My wetsuit and surfboard are the only non - negotiables . I normally wear the same outfit every day , and often come home with clean clothes that I never even unfolded .
I take a 1 - hour breakfast and a 2 - 60 minutes lunch and a 3 - hour dinner . Sometimes my meals seem to run into each other during the course of the solar day , becoming a 12 - hour brunner ( breakfast - tiffin - dinner ) . I clinkcervezasbetween “ board meeting ” rather than gulp latte between , well … theotherkind of board meetings .
I fix things I normally would ’ve discarded at home . I take to penitentiary and paper instead of earphone and laptop computer . I have conversations with myself — but not in a crazyCastawaysort of way . I have all the hours I need to be in my own head , reload the old batteries , and dream of young ventures and adventures . When I do wonder “ Where does the time go ? ” it ’s not because I was too busy to discover … rather , I was enjoying it too much to take in .
Even in the bare of lives , we get caught up in stuff … and not all hooey is sorry . Learning how to live way take the daily responsibilities , but not allow them control you . It have in mind accepting that it ’s okay to leave things washed-up … if you get to spend an spare hour being present with your bed ones or take in a beautiful sunset by yourself .
Because sometimes , those perfectly useless good afternoon are the ones that fulfill us the most .
