I have discovered doing nothing is something.

This concept really became apparent to me during a trip to Austin.

This past weekend, my youngest daughter and I set out on a road trip to visit my son, her brother.

I had been quite apprehensive about the journey since I don’t have very good navigational skills, but with the help of Siri and my daughter, we managed to make it to the capital of Texas in 10 hours.

I know.

It should not have taken that long, but while my youngest was snoozing, somehow I got off the beaten path. When I realized I was lost, I woke her up and she got us back on track.

Also, in addition to our bit of backtracking, we made five pit stops, one of which was at a Buc-ee’s.

In previous trips through Texas, I had seen these oversized convenience stores, so while there were no men on the trip, (in general, men in my family don’t like to stop when on road trips and certainly not at a Buc-ee’s) my daughter and I decided to take advantage of this opportunity.  

Admittedly, I began to question our decision to stop, since it literally took 30 minutes to get from the highway exit to the parking lot.

I guess all those Labor Day travelers needed a bathroom break, too.

Nonetheless, after all was said and done, my daughter and I decided it had been well worth the added time.

We even likened it to a “Disney” experience even though we didn’t take a selfie with the bucked-tooth beaver statue.

After finally arriving at our hotel, we quickly freshened up and went to pick up my son for dinner.

The restaurant was charming, the cuisine tasty and the bill pricey, but who cared after chocolate chip pie with ice cream.

The next day we continued our culinary activities at brunch.

Although my cinnamon French toast was good, I should have followed suit and ordered the lemon poppy seed pancakes like my son. They were divine.

The three of us eventually made our way back to my son’s house and there we all stretched out on the couches and napped.

Let me just say, I do not usually nap, especially when visiting a fabulous city like Austin.

But with a loose itinerary, the consensus was to just sit, hang out and do nothing.

This is when I had my epiphanal moment.

While I was “doing nothing,” it dawned on me, I was doing something.

I was being – being present with my two youngest children.

And realized that this “doing nothing” was just as heartening as “doing something” with them.

In the midst of all my planning, preparing and pursuing, I have missed moments to “do nothing,” but am hopeful this past weekend will be a reminder that doing nothing is something.

Terri Cowart Frazier is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. She can be reached at terri.frazier@vicksburgpost.com.