Today, I decided to do nothing. Literally nothing. When I use the word ‘literally’, I often misuse it and use it figuratively. But this time, I was going to use it correctly and hence do nothing, be idle.
Typically, when I want to relax and enjoy my free time, I head to a coffee shop, order an oat latte, and try to write a blog post. I
said ‘try to’ because writing does not really occur when I want to write. The ideas
usually come to my mind while I am doing something else, like walking on the
street, running errands, or at any other inconvenient time to open a laptop.
The moment I have these sentences floating around my mind, if I can write them
down, I can then edit and compose a blog post from them. If not, the ideas are
gone forever. So, it’s a process that happens outside of my will and control.
But today I wasn’t going to do that either because writing a
blog post is doing something that totally contradicts the whole purpose of the
day. I told myself that I was just going to order a coffee and watch people, sit
still, and think. So, I left my beloved laptop, which has become an extension
of my arm now, at home. However, I couldn’t resist the idea of not taking a
notebook, but that was fine because I knew I wasn’t going to write my blog post
in a notebook. But even though I knew that, I also knew that I would want to
write something, like jotting down some casual journalling while drinking my
coffee. Because actually, the idea of not doing anything is not genuinely good.
It's scary. You are going to order your coffee, then it will come. And then
what will you do? Just drink it without doing anything? It sure sounds like a
good waste of coffee, doesn’t it? You either have to work on your laptop, scroll
down Instagram, or at least call a friend or listen to some tunes while
drinking your coffee because otherwise, it just doesn’t feel right. You can't
just sit there and drink your coffee. It almost feels illegal. Try going on a
walk without taking your headphones with you. It suddenly feels so disturbing.
We always have to be kept entertained.
I don’t know if this is about the constant need for being
occupied or the pressure of being multitasked or the fear of being alone with
our thoughts. Something in this era makes us feel guilty when we don’t do a second
or third thing while we are already busy with the first one, and we became such
creatures who are unable to enjoy a cup of coffee without feeling the need to
be doing something else. We are so busy all the time. Even when we are not doing
anything meaningful, we keep consuming online content and try to make that time
somehow useful. Why can't we just stand still, mentally and physically? I am so
tired of seeing people (including myself) in coffee shops with headphones on and
staring at a screen. Because nobody is enjoying their coffee. Not anymore.
Comments
Post a Comment