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For the last few months, I have been on a self-declared vacation mode. I am doing nothing, literally nothing. Even the universe wants me to spend time this way! Oh, you don't believe in me? Wait.
For the last few months, I have been on a self-declared vacation mode. I am doing nothing, literally nothing. Even the universe wants me to spend time this way! Oh, you don’t believe in me? Wait.
One night, before going to sleep, I was aimlessly surfing through the internet. I saw that content creators are coming with so much variety and new content regularly. I thought I was doing nothing and just relaxing.
I am spending time like this, closer to a lazy baby tigress who loves to change her sleeping place and yawns. I told myself, “It’s enough. Be energetic now and wear your creative hat. Start doing something from tomorrow morning only.”
The next morning came and passed. The afternoon came and passed. The evening came and passed. When the night came, I tried to remember that oh, it seems like I had made some promise yesterday. But which promise? I just could not remember.
After some days, I was determined to start doing something productive. I wrote in my journal the pending tasks and assured myself to start executing them one by one from the very next day. But what happened next was that all the tasks jumbled up, and I got confused about where to start!
In conclusion, I thought it’s better to keep them unfinished and just enjoy floating on the boat of doing nothing. At that moment, I remembered this beautiful Italian phrase: Dolce Far Niente, which means the sweetness of doing nothing.
In Italy, people enjoy relaxing and resting the mind by doing nothing. This might sound a bit luxurious for many, but it is a wonderful art of being in a meditative state even when you are doing absolutely nothing.
You might address it as being lazy or blame yourself for not being enough productive or creative. It’s like spending your days carefree, without rushing towards your to-do list and finishing the tasks scheduled for the day.
Niksen is the Dutch concept of doing nothing and spending your leisure hours absorbing the gift of this nothingness. It’s all about doing something without any predefined goal or a certain purpose; it’s actually, purposefully doing nothing!
Just think for once, isn’t it amazing for all of us, to have a small break from the rush of life and sit on the balcony to watch the sunset colours? Or, to walk on the grass field, just feeling the softness of the grass below your feet? Or, just lying lazily on the bed and simply doing nothing and letting the time pass?
This special state of doing nothing gives you the stillness of mind. Because this is all about being present in the moment and letting yourself flow in the momentary bliss. It is about you breathing out as much as you are breathing in. This is time for some quirky questions to live and getting their unpredictable replies.
When you have a long list of your tasks scheduled for the day of the week or the month, it’s obvious to end up being stressed. You will be worried about the proper execution of your tasks. Moreover, they need to be delivered by the deadline.
But, if you can find some moments when you will be doing nothing and rest your mind, you will find a way to bring back the peace of mind and restore your energy.
There are many ways to relax. It might seem that you are just chilling and giving yourself some well-deserved time, but it’s also true that even in that nothingness, you are still active.
Here are some ways to relax your mind and get balance in your life:
The purpose of this doing nothing state of being is to give you the sweetness of nothingness. Though it looks so simple, the fact is, it’s an art that you need to learn. Simply doing nothing is as tough as living without your beloved mobile phone.
When you aim to sit casually beside the window and let the world pass by, you will be troubled by thoughts about your pending tasks, your children, your work, your life, and many more. It’s difficult to control your thoughts.
So what can you do? First is to start with a small time frame. You can start with having a five minutes or ten minutes break from the daily schedule and let yourself indulge in doing nothing.
Choose a time when you are less bothered with the world and thoughts that come to your mind, are not that much important to you. Choose a place where you feel comfortable, and start delving into the mode of doing nothing.
Don’t be hard on yourself for searching the way you want to relax. You can choose anything to do, you can pick something from the above-listed activities or you can simply do nothing; allow yourself to rest with some moments of peace and calm.
I always focus on taking a meaningful pause from the rush of life. After a tough schedule, especially, you deserve to take proper rest.
So, how are you going to find your ‘Niksen time’ and let yourself float in the state of doing nothing? I am eager to know your take on that. Please let me know your unique ideas and share your beautiful way of doing nothing.
Happy ‘Niksen’ to you!
Swarnali is an Author, Blogger, Wellbeing Researcher, and Singer. She blogs at 'The Blissful Storyteller'. She runs The Peace Stories initiative where she shares stories of healing, recovery, personal winning, and self-discovery. An avid read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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