Monday, August 28, 2017

IN PRAISE OF DOING NOTHING

We are often looking for our next thing.  Whether it is the adrenaline rush of a new activity, or a new relationship, or a new car - whatever it is, we are often looking for it to bring us out of an imagined rut, or a sense of things being too still.  

Sometimes we seem allergic to stillness.  When it arrives, we mistake it for boredom, and go about trying to remove it as though it were wrong.  We are so used to reporting to others on our activity, that to contemplate doing nothing almost becomes a thing of fear, as though we imagine we might die if we are not always seen doing something.

But what is it to 'do something'?  Are we not 'doing something' simply by living and breathing?  We don't see a rabbit in a field and remark: 'well, that's all very well, but why isn't that rabbit doing anything?'  We assume that wildlife has an idea of what it is up to, and we are quite fascinated when it stands still.



What if we are like wildlife?  What if, sometimes, all we have to do is sit or stand still and do nothing?  Or rather, stay still and breathe, remain aware, perhaps walk a little, relax, see what's around us, chill... whatever we want to call it, there's a place for it.