Learning from a “Nothing” Day March 09, 2026

Learning from a “Nothing” Day

I am sure that I am not the only person who has had a “nothing” day. You may be exhausted after a long stretch of work. You may be recovering from an illness. You may be grieving the loss of someone close to you. You may be recovering from surgery. In my experience, a “nothing” day starts like this: You haven’t slept well if at all. You have even walked round the house for awhile -- perhaps more than once-- hoping that will help you fall asleep. It does not work. And when it is finally time to get out of bed, the activities scheduled for your day that you were anticipating, somehow are not doable, so you apologize and cancel them.

On a day like that recently, I was fortunate enough to participate in Mass via TV in our living room and my suite mate brought me communion. I had enough energy to pray the morning office. (It is not always true that you cannot pray when you are not feeling well.) But I was not interested in breakfast, so I took my morning meds and went back to bed. I was finally able to sleep even though I was restless. I turned on the Classical music station so that it was playing softly and that seemed to help. After noon, I called a friend to cancel another social gathering I had looked forward to for awhile.

By mid-afternoon, I decided I had better try some toast and tea, but I was quite aware that even the soft blue sky and “absent for too long” sunshine failed to motivate me. Even the novel that finally arrived didn’t entice me. I decided that my body did not like me right now. (Tell me I am not alone in this experience!) I don’t have days like this very often, but when I do, I find a favorite quote by Thomas Merton and allow the message to sink in.

There are times
when in order to keep ourselves in existence at all
we simply have to sit back for a while
and do nothing.

Sister Anne Marie Diederich