Do Nothing: The Fine Art of Living Your Life
More than ever, the world seems to demand that you always be doing something. If you’re not doing something, you’re not alive. If you’re not posting it on social media, it never happened. What happens if you do nothing?
I am reminded of an improvisation course I took some time ago. One of the exercises was to “do nothing.” A few of us were asked to sit in a seat and do nothing while other participants observed, and then we reversed roles. We shared our observations and learned the power, and difficulty, of doing nothing. It’s harder than you might imagine!
What does it mean to do nothing? In some sense, you’re always doing something. At the very least, you’re breathing and invariably blinking your eyes. And thinking, of course. Thinking comes in as questions, observations, judgments — about yourelf and others.
The facilitator instructed us not to drift off into meditation but just to “do nothing.” A lot of meditation is a very active doing in its own right, often as an intentional attempt at non-doing. In this context, doing nothing is quite different. It’s not a destination but a process. Not an exact science, but an opportunity, an offer, to explore what it means to do nothing.
The mind races in to make sense of doing nothing, for the doer and the observer. That’s what we noted in the improvisation class. For the nothing doer, there’s an increasing desire, tension or urge to do something. You assume that you have to do something to entertain an audience, to justify yourself. What was fascinating is that it is exactly the opposite for the observer. For the observer, watching someone do nothing creates mystery, suspense and possibility for what is happening and what is about to happen. This was true when I observed others doing nothing and was equally reflected back to me by people observing me doing nothing.
Many years ago I studied permaculture, which is an agricultural and human design system based on simulating patterns of energy movement and resilience observed in nature. One maxim that is used in the practice of permaculture design is, “Don’t just do something, sit there.” From a modern, Western perspective this sounds lazy, indulgent or wasteful. It is not meant to be used in isolation. It allows for observation, giving time and space for a fuller understanding of what is happening or for the right solution to emerge.
In designing a permaculture land-based project, it is recommended to do nothing for the first year but observe what is happening throughout that year — how and when wind, sun or rain comes through your space, how animals and other elements interact with the space. It’s all intended to save effort, a bit like the saying in building to “Measure twice, cut once.”
One of the fundamental principles in permaculture is, “Minimum input, maximum output.” This principle describes an efficient use of energy — minimise how much you put into something and maximise what you get out of it. This is true for all aspects of life whether they’re physical, emotional, intellectual or psychological. You may have a tendency to rush into some perceived problem and do something without observing what is actually going on. You may not be helping at all and you may, unfortunately, be doing more harm than good.
There are times, of course, when immediate action is required. If someone is drowning or a building is on fire, doing nothing is not the appropriate response. Doing nothing is also not meant to absolve or ignore your basic responsibilities or desires in life. Quite the opposite, actually.
In his book “How to Be Free,” Tom Hodgkinson writes that, “Idleness, doing nothing — literally doing nothing — can help fight anxiety. One strategy is simply to forget, to abandon your self and let things flow through you.” Doing nothing is something we can try once or even practice regularly.
It is not about being dead — even then your body is decomposing so you’re doing something! It’s not about holding your breath, stopping thinking or resisting an urge. While we were doing nothing in that improvisation class, someone might get an urge to laugh nervously, to sneeze or to shift a stance. If that came up, we were encouraged to allow it. To fight against it was more of an effort not to do something than to do nothing. So, we would allow the laugh, the sneeze or the shift. And then, we would see how easily we could return to doing nothing?
Doing nothing is an opportunity for giving space to what else is available, whatever that is. It’s about separating out the noise from the signal. Visual art is based on the concept of negative space. It’s what happens in the shadows, in the darkness, in the nothingness, that gives contrast and definition to a particular piece of art.
The same can be true for your life. Doing nothing can give contrast and definition to all of the somethings that you rush around to do all day, everyday. Try giving yourself five or ten minutes to do nothing and see what it’s like for you. Not to check your phone, not to watch TV, not to think about what you have to do tomorrow, not to meditate — just to do nothing. Enjoy!
Originally published at https://www.galliant.life on February 7, 2021.
