Doing Nothing!
Sid Grayson doing nothing!
Bees doing nothing!
What better time to create a new website than when temporarily incapacitated?
Having put off the much needed carpel tunnel surgery for as long as I possibly could, I decided that this was the year to bite the bullet.
Initially frustrated at my inability to get creative in my studio I made the conscious decision to take my foot off the pedal and redirect my attention.
Dr Joseph Jebelli’s book, “The Brain at Rest. Why Doing Nothing Can Change Your Life” had been sitting on my bedside table for several months so I decided to give it a go. Dr Jebelli explains the neuroscience of work and describes how overwork is actually killing us! He recommends spending at least twenty minutes a day just staring into space and doing nothing which, in turn, activates our brain’s ‘default network’. According to Jebelli, our brain operates on two primary networks: the executive (work) network and the default (rest) network. By letting our brains rest, we are giving our default network the time it needs to process, rejuvinate and ultimately make us more productive.
As an attender at Quaker Meetings, I am comfortable with the concept of intentional silence. However rather than an active or seeking silence, I was now looking to clear my mind entirely, letting it rest and wander, breathing slowly and deeply. One of Jebelli’s recommendations really struck a chord with me “..have more baths than showers”. I have always found that my morning bath is the time when I relax most and let my mind course over the issues most prominent in my life at the time. Other recommendations are to spend time with nature and in mindful solitude.
The upshot of my having the first operation, reading Dr Jebelli’s book, walking in the beautiful countryside aound my village, hugging a few trees and having daily baths with one hand stuck up in the air is that I have created this website!
In the end although forced to step back from my daily routines, rather than feeling that I have been wasting my time I feel mentally refreshed and full of new ideas. I can fully recommend Dr Jebelli’s book and going forwards, will consciously make time to just do nothing!
Fly doing something he shouldn’t!