Do we still know how to do nothing?
After travelling and then having a few busy weeks, I found myself craving a day for myself, in peace and quiet, with no one around.
I felt like I needed to do nothing for a day and just sit still. Be present.
Yet at the end of my day off, I realized I’d done laundry, read a chapter of a book, cooked some food, did dishes, messaged back and forth with people.
I’d done so much and yet I didn’t do the one thing I craved for: sitting still, doing nothing.
I don’t know if I know how (not 😆) to do that anymore. I seem to constantly be doing something.
We live in a society that puts so much value on doing, that we’re on the go, doing things all the time.
Too often, we even place our worth in our actions. As if we’re only worthy when we’re doing something. As if simply being is not inherently worthy.
If we see someone doing nothing, we might easily label them as lazy. It happened to me more than once. I had a really tough time embracing downtime for myself, so I was holding others to the same standard.
Do we know how to sit in stillness and do nothing? Can we be with ourselves without constantly pursuing some goal or outcome?
I had this habit of waking up and just laying in bed. I stared at the walls, letting thoughts move through my mind and allowing my brain to fully wake up before I did anything.
In the past few weeks, I realized what a luxury that is. Sometimes, I barely have time to eat before I get out the door. Laying in bed and doing nothing after I wake up? Ain’t nobody got time for that!
And even when I do have the time, I struggle to shake off the urgency and anxiety, so I start doing things as soon as I open my eyes.
The other day, I found this piece by Nicole LePera that says:
Source: Instagram
It got me thinking.
Maybe for me, it’s worth looking at some of the trauma that might stop me from sitting still even when I can and when I actually crave the stillness.
And creating a schedule that allows me to do nothing regularly.
How is it for you? Are you able to sit still and do nothing? Or do you also feel the need to be doing something all the time?
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