The Art of doing Nothing

It’s a random Sunday and I’m scrolling through my mail. Sifting through important mails and trashing the unimportant ones. I have mails confirming recent purchase orders, universities announcing admission to online courses, Netflix reminders suggesting a newly added original and so on. There are also the usual ‘Add new skills’ this lockdown and ‘Jumpstart your day with these 5 things ’ kind of mails.

While I scroll through this main page and temptingly jump to consequent pages, I realise how my world is flooded with content and data on the ‘How -to -add’ dimension of human skills and knowledge to create a better life. Read this book. Watch this movie. Buy this product. The list goes on.

While I do not discount the need to up your game with the right skills regularly, this  set me thinking in reverse. I wondered how instead of doing Art of writing, Art of public speaking, Art of cooking would the ‘Art of doing Nothing’ be like.

Apparently, this practice of doing nothing would involve spending a set amount of time without a task in hand. It would require a plug on the constant stream of thoughts flowing in the mind at all times.

Doing nothing would invariably involve time spent in silence devoid of-  any thoughts, feelings, anxieties and apprehensions. It would be an act of disconnecting from the past and distancing from the future. It would be a conversation, in situ, with the self.

I once read a story of a farmer who had lost his watch in his farm. The watch was a family upkeep and of deep sentimental value to him. He called the boys of the village and promised a reward for anyone who could find the watch. Hours passed but there was no success. Finally, a little boy from the backyard turned up with the watch. The farmer was surprised and asked how he had found the watch. The little boy replied that he had simply sat down quietly, listened to the ticking sound and followed it.  

^{As humans, we listen to different voices everyday – of the people around us and sometimes the self. But how many times do we consciously listen to silence?}

I wonder why don’t we practise this art often. Has productivity and busyness creeped in our lives more than necessary? Have we become slaves to our routines and the multiple demands of people around us? 

Do we find the space and time in our day when we actually do nothing. Not ticking off a task, not tending to a need, not feeding some feeling. 

Silence speaks to us in many ways that words cannot. So maybe, next time you want to do something new, you might want to try this skill !