Sometimes Nothing Really Is Something
Last week I indulged by watching one of my favourite movies, Office Space. The 1999 cult-classic has a lot of laughs (hold on to your staplers, folks) but also provides an insightful look into the highs and mostly lows of bureaucratic office life. In the movie, the main character, Peter Gibbons, fantasizes about a life where he can do nothing. Then fiction and drama and hilarity ensues and his wish comes true. In his words:
“I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be.”
Many of us lament about how busy we are and dream of a clear schedule and to-do list (myself included). And yet, when given the opportunity to “lay like broccoli” (another movie reference for you movie buffs!) we end up filling our nothing with something. Whether that something is exercise, catching up with friends, or making a meal, we manage to fill up our free time and swap our “to-dos” for “want-tos.”
I’m not saying that’s all bad. There’s nothing I love more than working out when I feel no pressure to rush off to the next thing (or shower, for that matter). But I’ve also found that sometimes the hardest thing to do is to do nothing at all. And in those rare moments when I genuinely shut down, I gain so much from it.
I always find at this time of year, I’m burned out and ready to tune out. (I wrote about this feeling at this same time a couple years ago.) Given the year we’ve had, that need has increased exponentially. But unlike previous years, I won’t be heading for sunny skies. I’ll be doing my lounging couch-side instead of surf-side and I’m OK with it. In order to jump into 2021 (and my fifties...yikes!) with renewed vigour, I’m going to make sure to take my nothingness to a new level (or no level, I suppose).
As I was thinking about nothing (which is still doing something), I observed that this principle doesn’t only apply to our physical and mental state of being. There have been a number of instances this year where I’ve learned that doing nothing really is something. Sometimes that’s meant sitting back and letting my son learn a painful, but valuable, lesson, or walking away from a toxic relationship, or not engaging in a conflict. In each of these cases, my tendency would typically be to fix, or help, or solve the problem at hand. But more times than not, I’ve learned that sitting back and letting the chips fall as they may is sometimes the best solution of all.
Of course, I can’t wrap up a post about nothing without quoting my husband-who-doesn’t know-it-yet, and favourite funny guy, Jerry Seinfeld:
“I am so busy doing nothing...that the idea of doing anything — which as you know, always leads to something — cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything.”
Seinfeld became famous for a show about nothing. But really, what made it so special was that those nothings were actually just everyday somethings that we could all relate to. I think that one of the magical things that has happened in this dumpster fire of a year, is that we’ve become united in our struggles. It’s a unique moment where we can all find a point of connection with everyone else, and while we’re not dealing with the same sh*t as the next person, we know they’re dealing with some.
So my wish to you this season is that you’ll take some time to rest, relax and do absolutely nothing. Wouldn’t that be something?