As I was reading a book on my way into work this morning (for those unaware, I take public transportation, so I was not, at the same time, endangering the lives of others) I came across a chapter that discussed how Americans have the inability to relax.
It went beyond just that, but this first-hand account from an American who spent some months over seas, living in Rome, talked about how the American culture breeds us to be these gittery people, in more ways than one.
This really hit home as I find myself rather exhausted these days. I've found that there are moments where I crave doing nothing, literally.
It seems, that to most, "doing nothing" means plopping your body down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn watching TV or a movie. Well folks, reality check, that may feel like nothing because it's "lazy," but it's not nothing...it's watching TV.
The American culture has this way of making us feel like we should be consuming our days with something productive all the time. And with typical religion that most of us either grew up with or our families instilled in us from morals that were passed down through generations, if we're not actively doing something, we feel guilt.
We're a very guilt-ridden society, turns out. I'm living proof of that. No matter what I do, I have this way of making myself feel like it's not enough - sometimes I even throw that back at others, as if it's them making me feel this way.
It's a sickness, I know. But admitting it is the first step, right?
Anyway, this isn't about me. Well, maybe it kind of is, but it is my blog, after all ;).
What it's (mostly) about, is the act of actually doing nothing - something I think I've been craving. The closest I came was last weekend when I decided to get a massage. For 1 hour I was nearly completely relaxed, with the exception of my brain that, to be truly honest, never really takes a break. Could be the source of my exhaustion...anyway, again, back to the topic.
The book noted that we Americans live in a culture of entertainment. When we do "nothing" we want to be entertained. (going to add my own thoughts here...this is not the book speaking) In other words, we don't take downtime to reflect on what's taking place in our lives. That gets pushed aside so that our time not spent actually working, or doing chores, or other life necessities, is filled with things that occupy our mind to the point where we don't have to take the time to learn and absorb what the world has shown us.
This is one of the things I really liked about yoga. Even though you were working out, there was this quiet peace about it. You had time to think, to reflect, to improve upon yourself. Something that, generally, we don't do enough here in the States. It's go, go, go. If we're not productive, we feel bad about that. And when there's too much downtime, there's too much guilt and that my friends is why we have psychiatrists.
Okay, so I very quickly jumped to that conclusion, but there could be some merit to that...think about it. If you have too much time on your hands, what do you do with it? Go out and find something to do, right? Spend money. Spend time with friends. But what happens when that money runs out and those friends go to their jobs or are busy. You've got downtime. You think. You get yourself and your mind into trouble. If it weren't for this guilt, I truly believe this society would be better able to literally do nothing every now and again and get some benefits from that.
Just a theory, of course.
But I find that there are a few people out there who think in a similar way. A quick Google search brought about a couple things that raise my eyebrows. First is an article from Zen Habits (if you're not following him on
Twitter yet, I'd make it a point to). Here he talks about
The Art of Doing Nothing, and how to master this practice. The second item in Google's list was a book called the
Art of Doing Nothing, and it's about making time for yourself in a culture of overachievers. I didn't read much into it but honestly, this might be the next book on my list.
Both of these resources likely site and/or pull ideas from Eastern cultures and religions. I've found that these cultures have a way of being much more in tune to themselves, in a much different way than we are. Americans are bred to be proud, self-absorbed and arrogant. Eastern cultures have a way of making people self aware and generous with themselves and others. These, of course, are very broad generalizations...though I do believe there is truth to it.
Anyway, there's really no conclusion to this, it's just something I found interesting that I wanted to share with y'all on this Friday!
This weekend, if you can find the time ;), take even just 10 minutes to do absolutely nothing. Do it for yourself.
Cheers!
-A
