Aug 1, 2020
Dolce Far Niente in Rural France
An exploration of the sweet doing nothing
Dolce far niente. A beautiful phrase. The sweet doing nothing. But what does it really mean. Try look it up on internet, and you will find different points of view. At the core seems to be that there is no pressure, no stress, no obligation, and a lot of living in the now, contemplating the world around you.
While traveling, I never was one to sit still much. Our world is such a beautiful place and there is litterally beauty in everything and inspiration everywhere. Going some place to just do nothing, lie in the sun on the sand, is not typically for me. Even doing that has to come with reading a book. Which is fine. There’s always a pressure, a self-inflicted obligation, to do something.
Dolce far niente. What it means to me suddenly came to me this holiday. A gîte in France, with a pool. We wake up, take walks with the dog, play games and swim. In the water, it comes to me. Dolce far niente. Our youngest will start learning to swim soon, but she already loves the water. As we are going round, she holding on tight to me, I know what the sweet doing nothing means to me. Connecting. Just being in the now, connecting with the ones you love and the place you are in. Being there, together, doing nothing in particular.
