Last thoughts on nothing

March is almost over. Before we say goodbye to our rule, "do nothing" we wanted to leave you with a last thought.

Good JOB!

We learned many things about our exploration of "nothing" this month but the one thing that kept coming up was just how hard "do nothing" is.

Welcome to the club!

To just stop and be is a challenge, within one's body and within one's mind. To understand this is huge but the even bigger picture to see is that we are part of a world that is addicted to being busy. 

No one gives out medals for doing nothing. No one says good job for a moment of silence. No one puts nothing on top of the list because busy is KING.
  
 Just ask Tim Kreider, he wrote an article all about busy in the NYTimes called, The "Busy" Trap.

Read the complete article HERE - The "Busy" Trap by Tim Kreider -  NYTimes

"The present hysteria is not a necessary or inevitable condition of life; it’s something we’ve chosen, if only by our acquiescence to it."

Do you agree? Give his article a read and tell me if after reading it, you can look at your life with new eyes and spot the "I'm so busy" default of your days. 

If you can, good job! Let it be your next clue for where some "do nothing" is needed and see what YOU choose to do next.

Nothing to see here

In our living room is a large bay window. It used to be a traditional space filled with picture frames, a bowl with colorful glass beads and the occasional bouquet of fresh flowers. Not these days!

If you drive by our house afterschool, you will spot something else occupying the window space - my children.

Yes, my growing children like to climb up onto the bay window and just hang out. They've been doing this years, slowly edging out all my collectibles.  

When I ask, "whatcha doin?" 

They always respond, "nothing" but it's never really nothing.

Ethan likes to do his homework on the window, especially on a sunny day. He'll read, play video games, draw comics, all for the world to see. And Reese, she likes to be wherever her brother is so she follows suit and makes herself comfortable. 

I just to joke that in a previous life my children must have been cats the way they liked to lounge here.

 

They have always gravitated to this space. It's the best view to gaze at the passing world. Some days I catch them in their nothing moments. looking out at nothing in particular but taking notice of everything.

"Hey mom, the clouds are moving fast today. I see a ship."

"Hey mom, someone just tripped along the sidewalk."

"Hey mom, I just saw a yellow bird. What's it called?"

Hey mom, when will the snow melt so we can see the grass, again?

And when they are just sitting and silent, the answer to any question I ask is always the same.

"Whatcha doin', now?" 

"Nothing"

I love this empty window. It offers to anyone a much needed slice of nothing everyday. I know that the kids get more out of sitting at this window then if I pulled them to do something more zen. And that's okay because one of the best things about this window is that they found it, all on their own, crawling around as babes.

So, where's your slice of nothing?

Did you find it in a window? A cozy chair? A cup of tea? The outside world or in the eyes of another, full of wonder? 

2 Minutes - Meditate on this

Stumbled upon this web series and feel in love.

"The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a compendium of invented words written by John Koening. Each original definition aims to fill a hole in the English language - to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don't yet have a word for."

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: For Lack of a Better World

                   Web series on Youtube

 

Nodus Tollens - Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

 

2 Minutes, Meditate on This - Happy Monday!

Just Breathe

These days, when I nudge the kids to take some time to "do nothing", they often groan back, "how do I do THAT?"

"Just breathe," I tell them, "just breathe."

They are no stranger to this task, this phenomenon. In fact, they've been little yogi's in training since they were tikes. Both got exposed to yoga in pre-school on a regular basis. In fact, Reese had a wicked tree pose that always ended with her shouting, "TIMBER"!

And on nights when they couldn't fall asleep, I would teach them about their breathe by placing a stuffed animal on the belly and having them notice the up and down movement. So simple, they liked this because they could do it all on their own. Other times, I'd take them on a magic carpet ride through the neighborhood with a visualization technique that also focused on their breathing. All for a return to ZZZZZZ's.

Just breathe. It might sound like such a boring, simple thought but in the end, it really is all you need to do to begin and what you will keep coming back to, time and time, again.

When you do it enough, this "do nothing" business, you find SOMETHING that you need. And in those moments, especially the most stressful ones, you will be very grateful that it is so simple. 

Keep Calm...

 

 

I'm stealing away for some extra "do nothing" time to celebrate today

but still wanted to share with you some interesting reads/views.

 

Life has been BUSY, lately, but what else is knew? 

The need to do nothing has never been greater. How about you?

Busyness is a Sickness - Huff Post Parents

Five Reasons Why We Should All Learn How to Do Nothing - Guardian

 

Andy Puddicombe - All It Takes is 10 Mindful Minutes - Ted Talk

Why is "nothing" so hard?

Remember our donothingfor2minutes website?

I shared it with the kids and had them check it a few times for some "do nothing" time. When I asked them if they enjoyed it, they flat out said NO.

Really?!

"It's boring, they said, 'the website doesn't really do anything."

Not entertaining enough, I thought, blame their young, addicted electronic minds. But, that might only be half the story.

I read a Wall Street Journal article recently that talked about the basic point: Why is it so hard for us to do nothing?

Newsflash, it's not just the youngest demographic who struggle given their world is the most plugged in. When they did an experiment that involved just sitting and doing nothing, college students, even middle aged church goers struggled.

Things got even more interesting when they introduced an electric shock button to the mix!   

Read the full article HERE.

So, it's not just my kids, but I'm not giving up. We're going to keep up with our daily two minutes but we may have to look into a change of scenery since oceans and sunsets are not our boat.

Oh well, as Dory would say, just keep swimming!

 

master of nothing

Gotta love Seinfeld, the show that became synonymous with nothing.

Interestingly enough, "nothing" was not the original premise for the show. The quote, "show about nothing" was just a tag that caught fire with the media when the show skyrocketed in the ratings and went on to dominate TV programming for the next 9 years.

The original idea for the show was to follow a comedian's life to show how they came up with material.

See, that's something. But, what seems like nothing is actually the use of a very particular skill. It's nothing special but it's the best of comedians that know to use it.  

Simply put, they pay attention. Nothing more.

The seemingly ordinary of moments that most people would gloss over become play for an observant eye like Jerry Seinfeld.

Did someone say PLAY? We like this idea so that's where we will begin this week with our March rule, "Do Nothing". We're going to pay attention and report back.

Wanna play along? There's still room at the table at the diner. We'll save you a seat.

Happy Monday!!

The above video may not play on some devices....here is the direct link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQnaRtNMGMI

March Rule

 

 

Do Nothing.

 

Yes, you read that correctly. Do nothing, that's our new rule for March.

 

You might be wondering well, what EXACTLY will you be doing?

Answer, a WHOLE LOT of NOTHING, if we're lucky.

 

Let's start at the beach...CLICK HERE.

(You can thank me later.)

 

If you are having trouble with our CLICK HERE button, here is the direct link http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/