|
|
How to Do Nothing
by Becky Brett
Submitted: Thursday, July 31, 2008
In my favorite movie of all time, Office Space, the main character says “I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be.”
As an entrepreneur, a creative and a reluctant workaholic, I do actually understand the importance of down time. Doing nothing in order to clear out the logjam of thoughts, deadlines and projects (past, present and future) is an absolute necessity. Unfortunately, as an entrepreneur, a creative and a reluctant workaholic, it is extremely difficult to turn off the work side and simply … Be.
So I figured I’d find out what happens when a workaholic is forced to do nothing for an entire day. No blackberry, no internet, no plans. (What is a planner without plans? Crazy!) It seemed an impossible request of myself. At the time I was visiting one of my best friends on the planet. She lives in Tampa, FL in a big house with a pool and screened-in back yard. Yes, I said “yard.” If I could do nothing, this was the place, and here is my documentation:
Right now I am in Tampa visiting one of my best friends on the planet, sitting in her back yard, big glass of iced tea by my side. My first sunburn of the season is starting to appear on my shoulders, and I STILL can’t seem to turn off my mind. So I tricked it.
Her sound dock is out here on the patio and I’ve decided to play a free-association game with my iPod. I’ve set it to random and promised to focus only on what song comes up. I am hoping that the attempt to focus on one thing and one thing only will help me clear my head enough to enjoy the rest of the week. I’ve decided I’ll only sit here for 10 songs though, which should take about 45 minutes. Here we go…
1. “Carol of the Bells” from the South Park Christmas CD. Automatically shakes me out of this funk. I can’t help but laugh out loud. Yay! We’re off to a good start!
2. “Turn Me On” by Norah Jones. Hmmm…I think it would be TMI to share what I’m thinking now.
3. “Collarbone” by Poi Dog Pondering. Sample lyric: “The only thing that speaks the truth is the eloquence of passing time.” Yep. Why is it so hard sometimes to let go and go with the flow? Things are so much easier when you let the Universe take you where you want to go (see lessons learned from Rondi Reed).
4. “Ragda” by Khaled. I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but it has a great beat and goes well with the sunshine. Sitting here—just sitting here—is so hard. Since I don’t know what this song is saying I want to run inside and check my email. Just breathe through it, Becky…
5. “Lonesome Valley” from the soundtrack of Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? I think it’s some kind of work song or spiritual. Yeah. I think it’s a spiritual. I’m transfixed.
6. “Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar. Heh. This is on here because of my strong association of it with my Dad and Easter. Every Easter he’d pull out his multi-album set, stack them on the record player and play it all the way through. Then it was like he’d remember how much he loved rock operas, so he’d pull out the original recording of “Tommy” by The Who. I’m probably the only person on the planet who associates “Tommy” with Easter.
7. A spoken word section from the show “Merry Christmas, Bhtch.” Funny! It’s from a show I put together with some friends. The night of the show was a mixed bag, but mostly memories of it are good. This section is about searching for the meaning of Christmas. The parallel is not lost on me.
8. “Walking After Midnight” performed by the BoDeans. I love singing this song, but I never see it in karaoke machines! It reminds me of sneaking out of my house in 8th grade to meet up with my boyfriend. Of course now that boyfriend is gay…
9. “Winter Wonderland” sung by the Eurythmics. Man, I have a lot of Christmas on here if out of 1400 songs two of them randomly come up Christmas songs. Yanno. I hate winter and I’m so glad to not be in Chicago right now. This winter was BRUTAL, and I do NOT want to go through that again!
10. Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana Intermezzo. This is a famous classical piece I’ve heard used in commercials. It’s nice to retreat into something that has no words.
11. Bonus track: “Goin’ Down” by Jimmy Hawkins. Finally a blues song! Funny, there hasn’t been a blues song come up yet and I think at least a fourth of the stuff on here is blues. Funny how the blues and the tropics don’t really go together for me. I associate it with nighttime in the city. I am really forcing myself to sit here through this whole song.
Now that my little experiment is through, I notice it was definitely easier to sit through some than others. Any time I had a personal investment in the song being played, I enjoyed sticking around. When I didn’t (much like with every other facet of my life) even doing nothing was difficult.
I’m glad I took some time to meditate with my iPod. It definitely helped my mind wander around the various blocks it had put up. Now I believe it’s time for a cocktail.
|
 |
|