Pico Iyer’s “The Art of Stillness”

Adventures in Going Nowhere

All the unhappiness of men arises from one simple fact: that they cannot sit quietly in their chamber. — Blaise Pascal

A travel writer, this somehow seems improbable, has crafted a book extolling the pleasures of going nowhere — of sitting still, and the “real deep entertainment” that calming the mind can bring.

This review must be short. Pico Iyer’s compact book, a mere 48 text-containing pages, deserves nothing less. Paradoxically, despite the brevity, Iyer manages a leisurely pace, never hurried. The medium fits the message well.

Two related ideas unite the book. First, that the world today is full of interruptions and multitasking, and sitting still introduces the needed counterbalance of a pause. And second, dwelt upon longer, that creativity is helped by — indeed, needs — stillness. Even an author writing about bustling activity, the argument goes, must sit still to compose all that chaos onto the page. Unanticipated ideas bubble up in the stillness.

Stillness has nothing to do with settledness or stasis:

With every return to Nowhere, one can begin to discern its features, and with them its possibilities, a little more clearly. The place has moods and seasons as rich as the pulsing, red-dirt spaces of Australia’s outback, as varied as the clouds you can see in a James Turrell Skyspace.

Stillness may have nothing to do with stasis in another way, but I may be putting words in Iyer’s mouth here. Stillness need not be restricted to sitting still — a solitary walk along the beach may count.

Iyer, on being asked for suggestions of places to go, occasionally suggests going Nowhere, certainly a destination worth exploring.