The art of doing nothing

 I have to admit straight up that I've become pretty good at doing nothing. I'm no longer one of those people who need to be on the go all the time. I can easily be swept up by these people, because I love saying yes to things - but when I'm by myself, I am perfecting the art of doing nothing.

Let me start by saying that I've never really been driven by career and money. Being at work for long periods of time didn't really fit into my idea of 'living the dream' and so I have been creative in my work pursuits, found jobs that allowed for lots of time to be with my children and subsequently, time for myself. Hence, I've created lots of space to practice doing nothing.

It's a skill - doing nothing. It requires you to rid yourself of the 'busyness' guilt - which I think as a parent, is always at the back of my mind. 'I could be [insert whatever it is you think you should be doing]. Doing nothing requires a certain permission to just be. Even if it's just for a short period of time.

My teenage daughter and I took off for five days on a road trip in the holidays and it was SO good to just set up and do nothing. Read, wander, collect wood, make cups of tea - . camping offered us the best opportunity for this. Languid days sitting in camp chairs by the river, eating when we felt like it, sleeping when we felt like it. {NB. I recognise this is not everyone's experience of camping - particularly if you have little children - I can say now - it does change - it does get easier)

And then today, I found myself alone with four hours of nothing. Next level. Nowhere to be, nothing urgent needed doing, and no-one to see. In the past, this would have felt like an opportunity - to reach out and go and visit someone. Or a window to take myself to the movies or do some gardening (or in more extreme circumstances, cleaning). But instead, I revelled in the idea that I didn't have to DO anything. Sweet FA.

So I lit the fire, did one load of washing (just to alleviate the guilt a fraction) and then have been sitting on my couch. Not meditating or concentrating on clearing my thoughts. Not reading or playing on my phone. Just sitting and looking out the window. Now I know that I'm writing this right now - but I had space, because I was doing nothing. So I had the space to think. The space to write. The space to be creative.

There's a reason in my dance practice that the stillness in which we settle at the end of a class is important - it's when the magic settles within you. When all the thoughts and emotions and wildness and tenderness has a chance to find a new place within you - perhaps with more clarity, perhaps with more compassion for yourself and others - and that stillness is integration. How can we possibly integrate this huge world that we live in without the 'nothing' space, the still space, to integrate?

It's no wonder we are tired but then can't sleep - while our brains (well mine anyway) churn through the day's events and thoughts at night, when we finally rest our bodies. Doing nothing is my opportunity to recalibrate. Re-centre. Integrate.

It's a big, busy world that we're in, with a lot going on - and so I find it comforting to be reminded that we can take moments when we don't have to do anything. At all. Our bodies will keep breathing, our blood will keep pumping, our thoughts will keep thinking. The world will keep turning.

And so my friends, my offering for you is this - find some time to do nothing today too.

It's well worth it.

with gratitude

Anna

xx