How to Celebrate National Relaxation Day

Whatever you had planned today, cancel it. No work. No nothing.

Open the windows. Put on your favorite playlist. Make a cup of tea. Sit in your favorite chair and curl up with a book. If the book gets boring, nap. When you wake, stretch, yawn, and stretch some more.

Pack a picnic lunch. Take a walk around the park. Find a shady spot beneath a tree. Throw down your blanket, get settled, and tuck into a sandwich.

A line of ants will appear. They’ll mean you no harm; they’re just here for the crumbs. Wave at the ants. Say hello.

One of the ants will wave back. He’ll call out, “Hello! Hello!” But you won’t catch it. His tiny ant wave will go unacknowledged. His tiny ant voice unheard.

The ant will be disappointed. His whole life he’d hoped to connect with one of your kind – one of the giants who rain food and destruction from the sky. It was a dream the other ants mocked and ridiculed. Just now, that dream seemed so close at hand. The other ants will laugh at him. Again.

And you’ll just sit there munching away, relaxing against a tree, without a care in the world.

Enjoy your day off, asshole.

Links & Learning

Ants are smarter than you think.

• Your Ant Farm is Smarter Than Google – Time
• We’ve Been Looking at Ant Intelligence the Wrong Way – Scientific American
• Do Ants Have Feelings? – Science Focus

Even if you are an asshole, take some time to relax.

• 10 Health Benefits of Relaxation – Huffington Post
• The Importance of Allowing Yourself to Relax – Psychology Today
• Why Relaxation is Key to Productivity – Lifehacker

Ant-Related Art

Invite these ants into your home via Society6

Picnic by CHAR ODEN

Ant Ski by Lili Batista

Fire Ants on the shoreline Eastport, Maine by Will Rose

Amazing Ant Farm by Bronzarino

ANTS AND CAKE by Piiich

• Picnic by CHAR ODEN

• Ant Ski by Lili Batista

• Fire Ants on the shoreline Eastport, Maine by Will Rose

• Amazing Ant Farm by Bronzarino

• ANTS AND CAKE by Piiich