Today’s my birthday.
‘Happy birthday’ you say.
Well thank you. That’s very kind of you.
But what am I doing on this ‘special’ day you may ask? Well, I have taken the day off work and my only plan is to meet Mrs Away From The Noise for lunch later. Other than that, I’m doing ‘nothing’.
But what does nothing actually mean?
I was brought up to be busy, constantly being told to get up and go out and do ‘something’. In fact, it makes me smile that my mum still talks about being so busy that she has no time to sit down and do nothing.
My argument that I was doing something by ‘doing nothing’ fell on deaf ears. Perhaps I was being flippant as a teenager with my parents, but as an adult (of some kind) now, I still think the same. And perhaps more than ever.
In Italian, there is a lovely verb – dolce far niente – which translates as the sweetness of doing nothing. It’s perhaps indicative of the Italian/Mediterranean culture that such an expression exists.
In recent years, the mindfulness, meditation and minimalism movements have actively encouraged such ideas and now you can’t move for experts who tell you to slow things down, do less and even do nothing.
But how do you do ‘nothing’?
Well, that depends on you and what floats your boat.
Reading, listening to music, staring into space, watching TV, sitting in the garden and having a coffee are just a few examples of the things that I do. My favourites are listening to a new favourite album with big headphones, Lana Del Rey’s ‘Norman Fucking Roswell’ currently, and of course sitting in a favourite bar watching the world go by.
Maybe it’s semantics as all these things are doing ‘something’. But as there is no practical end result and nothing to show for it other than having a cultural experience which hopefully moved you in some way, does that count as nothing?
In our ever-busy and forever focusing on more society, perhaps so. But not for me. And if you’re reading this, perhaps not for you either. It’s absolutely something for me as I have always got so much from sitting in a favourite bar contemplating, thinking and watching the world go and by being a music fan and musician.
It is exactly this kind of nothing that fills my soul with joy.
Some people see all these things as doing ‘nothing’ and wasting time when you could be doing something more ‘useful’ instead. That usually means work or something practical which usually creates a physical difference. I think that there may be a generational element here too with my parents’ generation (born after WW2) being particularly of this mindset, which is perhaps inevitable given their upbringing. And yes, I do understand that I am saying this from a position of privilege partly given to me by parents.
On reflection, my argument for ‘doing nothing’ sometimes comes from mindfulness and being intentional when doing it. But sometimes it’s just about doing nothing and not thinking about it. There’s a time and a place.
As for my birthday, other than lunch today with Mrs Away From The Noise, I also have plans to hang out with friends and have sushi, tapas and drinks with them over the next couple of days. So, all in all, it’s a good day and weekend to look forward to.
I’m enjoying my day and am feeling very grateful doing nothing today.
What do you do when you’re enjoying doing nothing?
Away From The Noise 