The Value of Doing Nothing
From my Newsletter, Late Summer 2009
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In our busy-busy; go-go culture, spending time idly, perhaps even staring into space, is not thought well of. In fact, if you went by what people say in the press, you’d think having some alone-time is highly suspect. When reporters couldn’t follow Obama at all times on the campaign trail, because, gasp, he wanted to have some moments alone, they didn’t understand why. And yet, for creativity to emerge, we need some down-time for it to formulate itself, or for us to access it (however you want to look at it). All artists have always prized this time. Let me quote from two great ones. Keats, in “Ode on Indolence”, wrote this:
“…Ripe was the drowsy hour;
The blissful cloud of summer-indolence
Benumb’d my eyes; my pulse grew less and less;
Pain had no sting, and pleasure’s wreath no flower”
***
“O, for an age so shelter’d from annoy,
That I may never know how change the moons,
Or hear the voice of busy common-sense!”
(and that written in 1819!)
In a slightly different take, John Lennon & Paul McCartney (mostly Lennon), wrote in “I’m Only Sleeping”:
“Everybody seems to think I’m lazy
I don’t mind, I think they’re crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there’s no need (there’s no need)
Please, don’t spoil my day, I’m miles away
And after all I’m only sleeping”
According to Wikipedia, Lennon loved hanging out in bed and would do his writing there.
Without some real down-time, you won’t be able to hear the prompts of the new idea beckoning to you. I recently had a client finish her novel. She was brave, and at my suggestion made a date with herself to sit in her writing office at her usual time, with nothing to do. She has a couch in there, and some books to read. What happened was, her next book came to her. Because she made space and allowed it to come.
So if it’s this important, and we know it is, why is it still so hard to give it to ourselves? Because we fear what we will find, especially if we are just completing our first book. All sorts of fears come up like, what if I never have another idea again? What if I can’t top this idea? What if I do have an idea but it requires too much of me? All these things can be underneath the disguise of busyness, which is always so easy to fall into in our lives today.
You may not have a separate office for your writing, but you could surely make a date with yourself to go for a walk. Or even go to a coffee shop and sit and stare into space (one of my favorite activities). You may have to pretend you’re meditating (if you live in Marin) so no one will bother you…or put on dark glasses and put earphones in your ears so people will think you are listening to a book on tape. But get your down time however you can.