For a few (read: many) years now, I’ve been a fan girl of a day alone in bed. With newspapers, crosswords, trashy tv, coffee, napping, vodka tonics. To reset. To quiet. To ignore. To just be.
But I know that it’s hard to justify, to find, to obtain time to take.
There are competing interests on all of us. There are a zillion things to do and accomplish, friends to see, family to meet up with, kids to entertain, plans to plan, rooms to clean, work to be finished.
And I also know that being able to choose to take a time out is a privilege. (Though it should be a human right.) Having time—without its accompanying privileges of money, shelter, food, love, friendship, safety, etc.—is entirely different than being able to choose to take time. I hope you know I know that, and that I’d never suggest otherwise.
That said, I was recently trying to justify and understand my own version of a time out, which involves checking out on how I’m going to do this and that around the house, teach Bear to portage a canoe (kidding, sorta), and get dressed. Instead it involves devices, mega glasses of coffee, water, Coke Zero, and vodka sodas. It’s crossword puzzles, serious news, real housewives, and apartment therapy. And I crave hours of this time.
So I was wondering whether, and to what extent, anyone was willing to admit to not only wanting it, but taking it, in our crazy, oddly ambitious world.*
Now, I did my search just on the eve of quarantine, to try to write a well-supported thesis for my need to isolate after week after week in a toxic office space.
But four months into quarantining with my favorite people on the planet, I find my need for a day in bed takes on an added purpose. I need alone time from my own people. Each to our corners! as Aaron said today. It’s not a small house, but it doesn’t have wings, and it’s old; we hear every footstep one another makes. It’s so noisy, and I’ve realized my HSP issues are awful around noise.
I guess I’ve realized that I don’t need a day per week in bed (though my goodness, I’d take it). But I need one more often than I don’t. So, if you’re like me, this article might be of interest.
*I have a post I want to do about this. So I’m putting a pin in here. Hope you’ll excuse me.
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life and puppies 
We definitely felt the need, in downsizing two years ago, to not downsize so much that we couldn’t go to our corners. And a day in bed, no matter if it’s spent cocooned in blankets in the dark, or has some of the variety of puzzles, snacks, movies, etc. is a great reset. The NYT article reminds me that, as always, the 1%’s day in bed is other-worldly. Much as I’d love to have experiences like that, I’d need to hire waitstaff. And some of it sounds overwhelming and stressful—-too many things packed into the day. Reminds me of those articles where they describe how some elite New Yorker spends their Sunday…and includes enough activities to fill a month of Sundays.