Jashan Takhar Personal Essay 4
Is doing nothing a good use of your time?
Whenever the word "nothing" is used in a conversation, it's usually used to lie with. "What are you doing?" you could ask someone. "Nothing," they would reply, while actively working on something. "What's going on?" you could ask. "Nothing much," they would reply, while something is very much going on. "Hello," you could say. "Nothing," they would reply. The last example is a dead giveaway that the other person is doing somethiing so important that they don't think it's worth even giving you an actual answer to your question. These days, nothing and something are more or less equal words.
But what about the true meaning of "nothing?" Nothing as in, you're sitting idle, silent, mind blank. Thinking about nothing, planning nothing, doing nothing. Not making the world a better place, nor a worse one in any way – simply existing. What a waste of time, right? Who in their right mind would do nothing when they could be doing something?
That's where everyone's wrong. Everyone's wrong, but I'm right. I'll prove that doing nothing is useful, and that, in fact, doing nothing may be more productive than doing something sometimes. It better be, or else I am wasting away my days for no good reason.
It's not so much the process of doing nothing that has a positive effect, rather the longterm results of doing nothing regularly. Personally, I find that it has helped me live more in the moment rather than being clouded with thought constantly. I've found that being really bored for 10 or 20 minutes at a time without without any devices or external stimulation per day helps me look at reality.
Doing nothing is a difficult process.
Stop what you're doing. Unless if you're currently driving a car in heavy traffic. Think, What was the last thing I was thinking? It doesn't matter what it was, but I'm guessing that the thought was either about something that happened in the past, something that could happen in the future, or something completely fictional. If I'm wrong, then think about your last five thoughts. Now assess what you are doing at the moment. Chances are, what you were just thinking about is a lot more interesting than what you are doing. That is why.
One day, I was in my room, right in the middle of the process of doing nothing, when my mom walked in suddenly. She let out a shriek as I was coincidentally staring right at her. She quickly closed the door back and shouted at me, asking what I was doing. I didn't reply. Doing nothing was simply too important. She walked away, annoyed, but, I bet, a little nervous as well. Why are people so afraid of the prospect of doing nothing?
Unfortunately, even when doing "nothing," we can't really escape doing "something."And in fact, there is something to say about doing nothing.
I think your blog does a great job self-deprecating and reflecting on your mindset. Although you could definitely expand more on your viewpoint, I think the emptiness of the essay reflects your few sentences very well. I would definitely try to rephrase some of what you currently have, as I had to re-read your post multiple times to understand what you were getting at. I think this is a great start and your idea has great potential!
ReplyDeleteHi Jashan, I liked seeing your take on this prompt. I thought the last sentence was clever, it's a good way to reflect back on the first paragraph when you talk about how people say they're doing nothing when they don't want to talk about it. I would've liked to see you expand more on why you think doing nothing is useful, but otherwise, great job!
ReplyDeleteI love the humor throughout your essay. Sometimes I feel like I should be doing something while doing nothing, but reading this makes me thing trying to do nothing might not be a bad idea either. Your writing is fun to read and flows well; you've definitely mastered the conversational tone. Nice job!
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