The Fine Art of Hanging Out

Doing nothing is a very refined skill. Once lost, this ability is hard to recapture.  Children are some of the best teachers, but, these days even they might need some guidance. I have watched kids look around for an activity, ask to use an electronic device, attempt to get some attention that they don't need, and then settle into an amazing meditative state. They might start to build a fairly house.  If you leave them uninterrupted by idiotic questions like "Are you OK? Are you having fun? Do you need some water?", they can go into their own little world for hours.

In their play, they are relaxed, setting their own pace and engaging their imagination. "The grey rocks are the good soldiers, the white ones are the enemy." "Shush, the fairies are asleep and we don't want to wake them up." Kids are amazingly resourceful. A dead leaf can be the roof. A tiny wildflower can be the tree. Then, maybe cloud watching can turn into a day dream. Hopefully, you all have had some childhood experience of this.

Then we grow up and we have to do lots and lots of things to keep the show going. And now we have all these devices to keep charged and get interrupted all the time. When do we get to look at the clouds? When can we stay in the daydream and not fall asleep from exhaustion? I don't have a very big problem turning off my devices. I do have a lot of interruptions caused by my relationship to my body. "I am hungry. I am thirsty. I am cold. I am hot. I need some caffeine. I want some nicotine." I am my own pain in the ass.

It feels kind of abrupt and rude when people ask me what I do and I say "Mostly nothing." This, however, is the truth. I discount the stuff we have to do to stay alive. I don't count throwing the laundry into the machine or putting the dishes away as "doing something". I don't discount these activities. I am happy I can do them, but I consider them, for now, just one step up from saying I am breathing. But, therein lies the rub. If I can breathe consciously or do the dishes as if I am preparing for a visit from the Buddha or the Christ, then I am not only doing nothing, but I am doing the greatest task of my life.

I suspect that when a child is playing alone, unguided, and uninterrupted, he/she is fully present. I aspire to this state. It can't make any difference whether my activity is able to be labelled 'productive' or 'unproductive' if I am present and aware. This is different from being distracted or entertained. And being distracted or entertained is different from being moved by a song or a painting.

I guess my theme for the day is to learn from the wonder of childhood and be here now. I am awake, even if I can only sustain it for a few minutes.