doing something by doing nothing

doing something by doing nothing. this sounds a bit contradicting. how can one be doing something by doing nothing? i am exploring the act of doing nothing, with the intention of doing nothing for a moment, a minute or the next 5 minutes.

often, humans cannot stand doing nothing. once we are not doing something, we begin to feel useless, not productive or not contributing to the society. in the end, we get ourselves busy by doing something, anything, just not letting ourselves to be in a state of doing nothing. do we feel tired from doing all the time? maybe for a moment, but the next moment, we start to get ourselves occupied or distracted. we get so used to doing something all the time that we feel uneasy when we are doing nothing. the question is, where are we heading towards?

some time last year, someone asked me, “what do i want to do now?” during that time, i was overwhelmed by a lot of things, emotionally and mentally, making me feel tired and frustrated. a tiny voice was shouting very loudly inside me, “i want to do nothing!” a sense of rebelliousness was brewing inside me, ready to reject anything that was coming my way. i just wanted to stay still and quiet. i could not understand what the rush was for. i could see nothing. i needed a bigger purpose in front to propel me forward.

this year, i decided to give myself the time and space to deliberately do nothing, to be present to the passing of time. it was like i was on the main path and i took a deliberate detour onto the forest trail. i was taking my time to walk, to feel the forest, to listen to my heart, to reflect in my mind, to be in the moment. there was no rush, only serenity. i felt at peace and happy, a moment to treasure. 

in the busyness of life, we should give ourselves the time and space to experience the moment of doing nothing...

walking on a forest trail