Il bel far niente "the beauty of doing nothing"

My mindset has recently been to seek true happiness and I personally feel there are only certain ways you can really be happy.

Frederick Buechner states in his book The Calling of Voices that "maybe that means that the voice we should listen to most as we choose a vocation is the voice that we might think we should listen to least, and that is the voice of our gladness. What can we do that makes us gladdest, what can we do that leaves us with the strongest sense of sailing true north and of peace, which is much of what gladness is?" "...our gladness in our work is as much needed as we ourselves need to be glad." "...to be Christs with whatever gladness we have and in whatever place, among whatever brothers we are called to. That is the vocation, the destiny to which we were all of us called even before the foundations of the world."

It's great stuff. It's ok to listen to that voice that makes us glad, and ultimately what makes us glad is where we're needed and will make others glad in return. I always thought doing things for yourself, things that make you glad was selfish. It could be some of the Christian mentality that others are always first, love others with everything you have, but I feel like I've almost suffered because of that. Not just dating relationships either, but all relationships. In the book Eat Pray Love she tells of her adventures experiencing pleasures in Italy and one of her Italian friends told her "Americans don't know how to do nothing." It's SO true. We don't. Even if we are literally doing nothing, I'm thinking about what I'm going to be doing, after I'm supposedly "relaxing" and doing "nothing."
I've truly been realizing the significance of doing things for yourself and it's been a huge eye opener for me. I can still love others the same, if not more than I did before, because I take time for myself. I put energy into myself.
I'm readying a book I really want to read for enjoyment, I take walks in my favorite park that I hadn't seen in months, I spend time with people that care about me, I sing because it feels good, not because I need to memorize a song by Tuesday, I pray because I want to talk to God. No money, or outfit, or material things are going to truly fulfill me, and I've truly been experiencing that. It's my relationships that will live on. Especially the relationship with myself and my God. talk about liberating, I feel so much better now.

I posted some pictures of my recent pleasures, enjoy : )