A Slothful Weekend
After a stressful couple of months of sickness and my mom’s death, I chose to have a slothful weekend last week.
I dragged myself to my aqua Zumba class and went to lunch with my girlfriends, but those were the only two times I left the house for three full days. I napped, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, ate pizza, and indulged in my guilty pleasure—vet shows.
And that slothful weekend worked. I felt better all this week and had more energy than I’ve had since the beginning of August.
Merriam-Webster defines sloth as “disinclination to action or labor.” It’s also one of the seven deadly sins.
But sloth has its place, not as an approach to life but as a way to call a timeout and take care of ourselves.
That’s what I did last weekend, and I felt its benefits.
My weekend was also slothful in another way. I’m obsessed with sloths, the animal, and have been for years. Sloths drew me to Costa Rica for the first time in 2018. I wanted to hug a sloth, but I learned that you cannot touch sloths in Costa Rica unless it’s to protect them from harm. No hugging a sloth there.
I searched for places where I could hug a sloth, and surprisingly, Wild Florida in Kissimmee, less than an hour from Orlando, provided that opportunity. Of course, I went and fed a sweet little female sloth named Aerie. I expected a sloth to be soft and squishy, but Arie wasn’t. I could feel her backbone and ribs through her skin.
During my slothful weekend, I watched Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet, one of my favorites. I love her sense of humor and her heart for all kinds of animals. This episode featured her in Costa Rica, helping injured sloths and jaguars and tracking tapirs. I loved watching her and her daughters tramp through the rainforests and release rehabilitated sloths into the wild.
Then, a most delightful and unexpected gift showed up in my mailbox—a sweet, fuzzy stuffed sloth that’s perfect when I need a hug, and no one is around.
Thank you, Kit. Your kindness touched my heart.
So last weekend, my sloth Fuzzy and I watched Dr. Oakley do her magic and took naps together.
A perfect slothful weekend.
How do you enjoy a slothful day or weekend? Tell us about it in the comments section below.
If you’d like to see a lot of sloths, do some writing, and be with a great group of people, check out Writing in the Rainforest happening May 1-8, 2024, in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.
Please note: All grammatical and typographical errors have been put in this article for
your enjoyment in finding them.
Unfortunately, when I go SLOTH, I also go GUILT. This goes back to my working days, two jobs six days a week. With nothing to do on my day off, I’d get a case of the guilts. I was wasting time. I’d look around for something to do. Only nap time seemed to help. Retirement hasn’t helped. It may even be worse now (another story).
Loved, A Slothful Weekend, VLOG. I agree we all need that time to go away from work and routine that drain our mental and physical energy. Even the Bible, my favorite book, tells me I need to retreat to seek inner self and restore. My slothful weekend would definitely include time alone with lots of music. I would have both worship introspective music to relax my nerves as I read Bible excerpts and devotionals as well as salsa latin type music where I can sway to rhythms in my mind in perfect synchronization. I would include a visit to massage… Read more »
Idalia, you are my kind of person, except hair-combing part. Your idea of a Slothful Weekend is right up my alley.
Thank you, Patricia, for reminding me to take a Slothful break. Would love to share it with a live Aerie.
My favorite slothful day
My favorite slothful day would find me on the loveseat in my living room in front of our big window. Shoes off, with my favorite hot or cold beverage in hand, I’d be deep into my latest favorite novel. Or, it might be the perfect place to take a nap.
What a thoughtful gift from one of your students. Great idea, Kit.
A slothful day to me is to catch up on saved TED talks or a book I’ve been wanting to read, write a letter or call a friend and take a nap.