Nothing Day: The importance of doing nothing | Trending

“I can just sleep in my barrel enjoying a sunbath like Diogenes, or live in a cave-like Heraclitus and think about Logos. Since there has never really been a trend of thought that exalts human subjectivity in this land, I can create it for myself. Lying flat is my wise movement, only lying down can human beings become the measure of all things.” Nothing Day is marked on January 16. (Representational image/Pexels) In April 2021, a young Chinese man named Luo Huazhong propounded Tang ping, the concept of choosing to “lie down flat and get over the beatings” – the beatings of a rat race with diminishing returns. Huazhong wasn’t fully postulating the notion of ‘doing nothing’ but in 1972 American journal Harold Pullman Coffin did. He proposed Nothing Day, an ‘un-event’ day when people can just sit without celebrating, observing or honouring anything. The idea struck a chord and since 1973, January 16 has been deemed National Nothing Day in the United States of America. However, neither Huazhong nor Coffin were the first ones to embrace ‘doing nothing’. Much before rat race, anxiety and work-stress started ailing the world, several cultures/countries practiced the ‘nothing’ notion. Naysayers dismiss ‘doing nothing’ as being indolent, passive and work-shy but studies have revealed that non-doing cannot be equated with laziness. According to the University of Minnesota scholars, the frontal lobes of our brain, the ones that deal with reasoning and planning to decision-making and judgment, they’re much more creative for us when our brains are still. “So we’re not talking about mindfulness here…We’re saying we just want you to be blank, stare out and be blank. Yeah, give your brain that chance to rewire and be creative,” the scholars ins. Others, too, vouch for an occasional ‘doing nothing’. “Sometimes we need to idle the engine and just be. A well-placed ‘time out’ can be extremely effective, improving your ability to innovate, reason and be present in your daily life,” Henry Ford Health states. Next time, someone says they are ‘doing nothing’, don’t tag them as lazy or work-shy, they are merely rewiring their brain for a a good cause. Remember, what Lao Tau said, Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing. Here are a few ancient ‘doing nothing’ concepts in various cultures: Hygge: In 2017, the Danish term hygge was added to the Oxford English Dictionary but what really is hygge? Pronounced ‘hooga’, the word hygge dates back to 1800 and means taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about – or even yourself – to relax and enjoy life’s quieter pleasures. Even during the Middle Ages, the Danes believed in staying ‘protected from the outside world’ and living moments with no agenda. Niksen, the Dutch concept, is, well, about doing nothing. Niksen (literally, to do nothing, to be idle or doing something without any use) can take any form – sitting on a chair and not thinking of anything, or looking at the world around, or lening to music, all this without a purpose. The Danes swear it is the best way to manage stress or recover from burnout. Il Dolce far Niente: For the Italians, it is not merely doing nothing, it is the sweetness of doing nothing. The term gained ground from a scene in the film Eat Pray Love when Liz Gilbert (played Julia Robert) talks of how good Italians are at hanging out and doing nothing. Gilbert praises the Italians’ ability to enjoy simple things in life without any goals or guilt. Boketto: Boketto is a Japanese word that loosely translates into ‘gazing vacantly into the dance without really thinking about anything specific’. Put simply, it is doing nothing. The Japanese are very clear that boketto is not meditation or mindfulness because while boketto is the act of spending moments without an agenda, mediation is more intentional and has a set purpose. Wu wei: A Tao term that means ‘doing nothing’ or ‘non-action’. This ancient Chinese concept exhorts people to learn the idea of inaction, inexertion or effortless action. Flânerie: Writer Baudelaire was a Flâneur, he practised Flânerie. In France, particularly in Paris, Flânerie refers to the art of leisurely strolling and observing the city and a Flâneur is someone who wanders the streets with no particular goal. Lagom: The Swedish idea of lahgom (pronounced lah-gom) is not exactly ‘doing nothing’, it is about finding balance in all aspects of life ‘not too much, not too little, just the right amount’.’ BOX: Want to know more about Doing Nothing? Read these books: How to Do Nothing: Resing the Attention Economy Jenny OdellDo Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving Celeste HeadleeArt of Doing Nothing: Simple Ways to Make Time for Yourself Erica LennardThe Joy of Doing Nothing Rachael Jonat