"the beauty of doing nothing"
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One of the books I am currently reading is Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert. One short section is about the Italian phrase il bel far niente. And it got me thinking.
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Doing nothing doesn't mean sitting in a comatose state on your couch for the weekend. It can mean a lot of things: relaxing in a hammock in the breeze, reading a book with your children, sitting on a park bench listening to the birds or watching the people around you, enjoying yourself at a coffee shop, taking a walk, spending quality time with your significan other, catching fireflies in jars in the backyard, watching the sunset, etc.
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What happened to that?
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Why are kids not getting home from school until almost nine o'clock? Why must they be involved in every single sport imaginable? Can't we just let them play? Why must five-year-olds be involved on sports teams, so that when they get in high school they will be the "in"? I just don't get it.
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Too many Americans are never leaving their jobs. They may be clocking out and heading home, but the briefcase is full of work and the cell phone probably rings all night. Stop! Stop working 24 hours a day. I'm pretty sure you are not getting paid for all that time, and your family is probably suffering because of it.
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Think il bel far niente. Take a look at your life. Can you find the beauty in doing nothing? Once you do you'll realize that you are doing so much more than nothing, and you'll be happier too.
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