Stop and do not smell the roses.
The average member of the first world populace craves stimulation, seeks it. Never are we supposed to just stop - vacations require more planning than the work we are supposedly getting away from; silence is bothersome (chirping crickets anyone?); cell phones have become all-in-one tools of entertainment and updates; TVs are in every store and restaurant because the idea of just waiting in line and doing nothing else is becoming taboo.
Stop for just a moment. Stop reading, close your eyes and realize that the world will not end if there are a few moments in which you have no obligations, nothing to do, and no stimulation.
What happened? Did tension loosen or increase? Were you able to keep the to do lists out of your head? Could you, was it possible to, just stop?
There are several potential explanations for this phenomenon. The environment we live in; a culture that does not allow pure moments of nothingness. It could be that to do nothing, to stop, is associated with death, creating an intuitive fear. There is the idea of time as a limited resource; to let seconds and minutes pass with no productivity or even fun in them is seen as waste.
Even in sleep we are not simply stopping. We are preparing for the next day (doing something, acquiring something - "getting enough sleep"); we are dreaming; the alarm clock is set and it is all planned out. Appreciate that snooze button - it's about the only sanctioned way to take a moment of no responsibility.
The times between sleeping and not - perhaps these are the times of stop. The dawn and dusk of wakefulness; when the bed is still warm and the most comfortable; when there is nothing in our minds but the remnents of dreams quickly fading and then nothing.
Or maybe those are merely my times of stop. Do you have any?
2 comments:
Why do you think the fad with Hollywood includes stuff like yoga and rock gardens? The premises are appealing to someone in control, yet the real art is lost on those who schedule it in their palm pilot between "spend time with kids," and "shower." Can't we go back to moving through the day with natural progression? We'd probably get a lot more done.
...Then they would find out what they're really worth.
As for me, I guess I spend too much time blanking out when others spend too little.
I think I'm with Alice on this, if there's no pressing matter (like a ringing telephone or a demand that I be somewhere) grabbing for my attention, I tend to blank out, especially right before bedtime. In winter, I like to get a really big mug of something hot and sit in bed and just drink and stare off into space...I lose track of so much time that way.
As a society though, I think you're right, we're afraid to do nothing. One major factor that I think you neglected to mention though is the guilt mechanism at work. A major part of the "American Dream" involves "making something of yourself" through hard work and cunning use of your assets. I know you and I have talked before about the guilt feelings incurred by taking a day off to be sick; I think that the same thing applies to "times of stop" - we feel guilty for not being productive in some way. This of course in addition to all the things you mentioned.
Sorry for writing a book in your comments...
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