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| Still Life with Golden Goblet, Pieter de Ring (1655 - 1660) |
FTC Affiliate Disclosure
Ok, so after burning down my life to implement The 12 Week Year this Spring, I decided this Summer I'd look into a little something the Dutch call, niksen, with the help of the book by, Olga Mecking, Niksen: Embracing the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing. I mean, so far so good, right? I'm digging that title already, it sounds exactly like how I want to spend my Summer!
What do I know of the Dutch already? Hmm, I know they're more than wooden shoes, Delft tiles, stroopwafels, and windmills. They have a rich history of exquisite painters, and talented artists. Their tram system makes me pretty jealous. Their water technology and innovation is second to none, their engineering is off the charts as well as the amazing things they do with dikes, their expertise in flower-farming is a little terrifying. I know I'm painting with a broad stroke here (heh), but I've always found them to be very direct, and forthright folks (which I appreciate), and they (and I don't think this is an unfair stereotype) LOSE their minds, in the best way possible, on sunny days. Oh yeah, and bikes! What's not to like? Overall, I think there's something about life they just seem to "get," they're kinda known for being some of the happiest people on the planet, and I'm eager to learn.
How am I going to reconcile this with the frenzy that is The 12 Week Year, you ask? First of all, I don't think anything in this book is about becoming a do-nothing lump. Secondly:
"Work hard to play harder," (Linda Rawson)
You were put on this earth to do more than just pay bills, and die (Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich)
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Pick the one you like best! I take rest seriously, and I don't make myself earn it, it's not a "special treat," it's required in order to be a functioning human being. I don't believe that every single moment of your day has to be optimized for maximum production, and I think it's okay for downtime to simply be ... Nothing. Even an old episode of Sex and the City (S2.E4) ended with Carrie sitting alone at an outdoor café table, grappling with the notion of nothingness, aloneness, and ultimately relaxing into independence. "So, I sat there and had a glass of wine - alone. No books. No man. No friends. No armor. No faking," she tells us as the camera pans away. There's something liberating in dropping the façade of constant busy-ness - the ultimate armor if you ask me. It's exclusionary, it keeps people at bay, it lets others know you are not available to participate in life with them. In the Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff calls them the Bisy Backsons (thanks to Christopher Robin's solid attempt, but poor execution of spelling), the folks who live desperately active lives, yet seem to have no time for any one, or any thing that truly matters. Through the Chuang-tse parable he tells us about a man who tries to outrun his own footprints, and shadow. He runs, and runs, and runs faster, and faster until he drops dead, never realizing he could've avoided the footprints and shadows altogether by simply taking refuge in the shade. Why is it then that the Busy Back-Soon(s) put themselves through such a chaotic, and frantic existence? They think they'll be handsomely rewarded in the end for all of their efforts, and they'll sacrifice damn near anything for it, their health, youth, time, loved ones just to name a few ... And for what prize, a hefty nervous breakdown? No thanks. If the Dutch have got any secrets to avoid that, I'm all ears ... Well, eyes in this case since it's a book after all.
Already, I'm so good at doing nothing, I haven't even read the introduction yet! Though, this might just be the excuse I was needing to set up the ol' hammock ... I'll let ya know how it goes.
xoxo
