Confirming what I instinctively know. Thanks. I'm going back to the first draft of my first screenplay after 200 fucking rewrites. It's been a wonderful return!
"Doing nothing is not the same thing as getting nothing done. You are letting the aquarium settle so you can see the fish. " Loved this. I ride the public bus and train a lot and find them to be great places for observations. But... I also listen to podcasts because sometimes I am not good at doing nothing. Making time for the fish to swim by will be a reminder to self to just be. Thank you. Love your writing.
Thank you very much. and there are so many really intersting podcasts. Listening is a kind of receiving, right? Maybe not close kin to doing nothing, but kin of any kind will do.
As usual, fabulous!!! SO many rich lines just begging the less gifted to despoil with clumsy reworkings. Thank you for really good, timely, and welcome guidance delivered with quiet humor, clear grace and signature style.
I love this post - and all the comments. For each of my books, I’ve first spent 6 months to a year not writing anything, letting the idea organize itself in my mind during walks and long periods observing nature and people. It’s remarkable how your mind can make sense of things if you give it some breathing room.
Good for you, I am jealous. If I give anything I'm curious about breathing room before doing some scribbling, it's off to the ether. But I do mean scribbling.
When I do nothing and observe everything is when I smile (and chuckle) the most.
My biggest problem is that I usually don’t have anywhere to document what I feel or see and like a soft wind, all the great thoughts come and go never to be retrieved again.
In my clinical psych program, they made all us aspiring doctors sit in a room and "do nothing" for an hour every week. They called it mindfulness. We called it excruciating. There was so much we needed to be doing: research and patients and studying and families and jobs. I'm not sure when things switched over, but eventually that time became a lifeline for all of us. I still practice this; it hasn't gotten much easier, but it is always worth it.
still remember the smell of that room and what the traffic sounded like outside, 20 years later! It's amazing how much we miss by doing something and how much we discover doing nothing.
Wow! Did I need to read this today! This post spoke to me on so many levels. Thank you for gentle this nudge, these encouraging words and of course, this virtual hug!
Thanks for this. Friends sometimes ask if I write everyday. I say yes, even though I do not daily put pen to paper or more like likely fingers to a keyboard. I do what might be labeled "doing nothing." It's not nothing. On those non-writing days I'm marinating in the atmosphere, observing and casually letting what I see, hear, and feel to sink in to perhaps later incorporate on the page or simply inform on another day.
Yes, disconnecting from electronics and the hurry-scurry of everyday life. I love this idea.
Why is it that as children we're content to lie on the lawn and simply watch the clouds. As adults most of us have lost that habit, and other do nothings, that free up our brain for creativity.
I have alarms on my phone for various things, I wonder if there's a way to set a randomly generated reminder that pops up to remind me to do nothing.
This is wise advice. I agree with everything you say about doing nothing. My only reservation is the idea that one should keep a journal or notebook or diary--which is definitely not 'doing nothing'. I tried it a few times and found it an incredible waste of my time--time that could be spent living my life or remembering its chapters and verse, observing the world around me, or simply thinking about things. That doesn't make me less contemplative, but perhaps freer to tune out and do nothing. I don't believe my writing has suffered.
If you forget everything, then a notebook can come in handy. If not, not. I forget everything, so keep notes., often on the backs of envelopes which I instantly lose. So for me, a notebook is heloful. Harder to lose.
Such a vivid permission of the value of "doing nothing". The phrase "letting the aquarium settle" is so fresh and evocative. As always, your writing delights, enthralls and informs. Love, Love, Love
Sometimes you don't need to read a whole book on writing to get a little motivated, sometimes it's just a knocked-out-of-the-park essay like this. So many nuggets to pick up and remember. Thank you.
Thank you for that image of a boy like a vase of flowers
Thank you so much for liking it.
I second that and imagine drawing it…
Olease do. I want to see what you make!
His posture!
Confirming what I instinctively know. Thanks. I'm going back to the first draft of my first screenplay after 200 fucking rewrites. It's been a wonderful return!
So glad for you. Hooray!
"Doing nothing is not the same thing as getting nothing done. You are letting the aquarium settle so you can see the fish. " Loved this. I ride the public bus and train a lot and find them to be great places for observations. But... I also listen to podcasts because sometimes I am not good at doing nothing. Making time for the fish to swim by will be a reminder to self to just be. Thank you. Love your writing.
Thank you very much. and there are so many really intersting podcasts. Listening is a kind of receiving, right? Maybe not close kin to doing nothing, but kin of any kind will do.
As usual, fabulous!!! SO many rich lines just begging the less gifted to despoil with clumsy reworkings. Thank you for really good, timely, and welcome guidance delivered with quiet humor, clear grace and signature style.
Thank you, thank you. What kind words.
Sincere
I love this post - and all the comments. For each of my books, I’ve first spent 6 months to a year not writing anything, letting the idea organize itself in my mind during walks and long periods observing nature and people. It’s remarkable how your mind can make sense of things if you give it some breathing room.
Good for you, I am jealous. If I give anything I'm curious about breathing room before doing some scribbling, it's off to the ether. But I do mean scribbling.
I’m curious what you mean by “off to the ether.”
gone forever.
Ah! So your process works for you. 😊
When I do nothing and observe everything is when I smile (and chuckle) the most.
My biggest problem is that I usually don’t have anywhere to document what I feel or see and like a soft wind, all the great thoughts come and go never to be retrieved again.
I love the advice to go back to the embers of the original fire. Just what I needed today.
Love that, Susan, thank you.
In my clinical psych program, they made all us aspiring doctors sit in a room and "do nothing" for an hour every week. They called it mindfulness. We called it excruciating. There was so much we needed to be doing: research and patients and studying and families and jobs. I'm not sure when things switched over, but eventually that time became a lifeline for all of us. I still practice this; it hasn't gotten much easier, but it is always worth it.
This is so impossible to imagine doing as an aspiring doctor. But you had to. Wow, and discovered its worth. Thank you for this.
still remember the smell of that room and what the traffic sounded like outside, 20 years later! It's amazing how much we miss by doing something and how much we discover doing nothing.
Wow! Did I need to read this today! This post spoke to me on so many levels. Thank you for gentle this nudge, these encouraging words and of course, this virtual hug!
I'm so glad it was timely. Thank you very much.
Advice I'll try to take!
You can do it. If I can do it, you can do it.
Thanks for this. Friends sometimes ask if I write everyday. I say yes, even though I do not daily put pen to paper or more like likely fingers to a keyboard. I do what might be labeled "doing nothing." It's not nothing. On those non-writing days I'm marinating in the atmosphere, observing and casually letting what I see, hear, and feel to sink in to perhaps later incorporate on the page or simply inform on another day.
Wonderful. Hooray for you. And thanks.
Yes, disconnecting from electronics and the hurry-scurry of everyday life. I love this idea.
Why is it that as children we're content to lie on the lawn and simply watch the clouds. As adults most of us have lost that habit, and other do nothings, that free up our brain for creativity.
I have alarms on my phone for various things, I wonder if there's a way to set a randomly generated reminder that pops up to remind me to do nothing.
I'm certain you can find one. I wonder what it will sound like. Let me know. And thank you.
I schedule "nothing days" on my calendar. I'm sure you could schedule nothing hours too.
You could, but I am happier with days.
Wonderful idea, thank you.
it can be so hard to put the distractions away but so important to be distracted by things besides the phone.
Fuck the phone. I only have a landline but even with that, I don't pick it up just because it rings. It's not an order, a ringing phone.
This is wise advice. I agree with everything you say about doing nothing. My only reservation is the idea that one should keep a journal or notebook or diary--which is definitely not 'doing nothing'. I tried it a few times and found it an incredible waste of my time--time that could be spent living my life or remembering its chapters and verse, observing the world around me, or simply thinking about things. That doesn't make me less contemplative, but perhaps freer to tune out and do nothing. I don't believe my writing has suffered.
If you forget everything, then a notebook can come in handy. If not, not. I forget everything, so keep notes., often on the backs of envelopes which I instantly lose. So for me, a notebook is heloful. Harder to lose.
Such a vivid permission of the value of "doing nothing". The phrase "letting the aquarium settle" is so fresh and evocative. As always, your writing delights, enthralls and informs. Love, Love, Love
Miss you, Carolyn. Hope everything is going smoothly. Thank you for this.
Sometimes you don't need to read a whole book on writing to get a little motivated, sometimes it's just a knocked-out-of-the-park essay like this. So many nuggets to pick up and remember. Thank you.
Wow, thank you very much, Cindy.