"It’s become the default response when you ask anyone how they’re doing: “Busy!” “So busy.” “Crazy busy.” It is, pretty obviously, a boast disguised as a complaint."
As a culture we suck at relaxing. We don't value doing nothing. Even our days off are often gauged on how productive they are. (and believe me, I am not somehow above all this because I talk about holism and balance all day; I like checking things off a list as well as the next person).
But in Chinese medicine think of the yin/yang symbol. The yin is the heavy, dark, quiet, still part and the yang is the light, bright, loud active part. That's why a well drawn yin/yang the yin is sinking to the bottom and the yang is rising to the top. In nature there are cycles of plants growing, producing, being dormant, day follows night, winter follows summer, animals rest and are active in balance, some insects spend years dormant only to be active for a few short days. All these things tie in quite nicely to this point the author makes,
"Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done."
Today I took a two hour nap. Today I made breakfast for dinner and after I'm done typing this blog, I'm going to challenge my husband to a board game. There are things I "should be doing" but I'm pretty sure these things are just as important... given how little I do them, probably even more.
1 comment:
Great article. I want to move to the south of France! [Not sure that’s what I was supposed to get out of it. ;)]
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