Nothing Days Don't Exist

There's about a foot of snow on the ground right now.


Today felt to me like a "nothing day." Everyone knows what a nothing day is. I'll fill you in on mine: I didn't do anything outside (a trip to the store in the morning doesn't really count), I was on the internet a lot, and I did so few productive things that I might as well have just skipped this day of my existence and picked up tomorrow, when maybe I get some things done.


At least, that's my mindset. But I'm wrong to think all that. Nothing days don't actually exist.


Think of a time that you were talking with someone, and you start talking about what the other person has been up to. "Oh, nothing really... today has been kind of slow, I didn't do anything at all." Really? Nothing at all? Oh, you mean you just had a "nothing day." I see, I mean I guess we can accept that and just hope that tomorrow is more exciting... No. Wrong. You mean to tell me that you did absolutely nothing of note today? I call shenanigans. You must have done a few things - maybe few enough for you to have forgotten all about them, or few enough that the lack of productivity the rest of the day clouded the significance of those events. But they still got done. You did the basic requirements to keep a human body alive and functional for a day. You probably socialized, which developed your relationship with whoever you were socializing with. Maybe you walked your dog. Maybe you read something - anything is enough to build your intelligence, in even the slightest extent. Maybe you organized some things. In every pile of dirt are a few shiny rocks - and in every slow day are a few productive activities.


Not a single day goes by where a person accomplishes nothing. I don't care how little you think you did, you still were a part of this Earth for a day, and you still affected something in some way, no matter how little the result of that action was. Every action has consequences. Think of the theory that, if someone were to travel backwards in time and kill a fly, it might drastically alter the future. Flies might as well have "nothing days" every day, at least relative to humans. Well, if a fly can do things to drastically change the flow of history, a human could do it without even lifting a finger. Not saying that you did any potentially history-changing things during your nothing day, but you still did things.


The main point is this: Even when dwarfed by comparing it to your most busy of productive days, your day today was not a "nothing day." Surviving on this planet, all things considered, is impressive enough, so pat yourself on the back.


I did indeed buy groceries today - so money exchanged hands and my family now has more food. I did get some work done for my dad - productivity. I spoke with friends and played with my dog for a little while - socializing, which was good for the well being of all of us. And I'm sure I did a bunch of other things that I can't remember right now, not because they weren't important (because everything is, for everyone), but because they just are slightly less impressive or noteworthy that I don't make a point to remember them. Small impulses, though, can still have large repercussions.


Oh, and I wrote a blog post, which if nobody even read, helped me develop my writing skills - or at least, prevented me from squandering them. But, for every person that reads it, that's one more person that I influenced in some way, big or small.


I guess I didn't have a nothing day today, after all.