The Power of Doing Nothing
Recently, I contracted a pretty bad eye infection and my eyes were almost completely swollen shut. I was quite nearly blind for two days. And in that short time period, I discovered, shockingly, that without my sight I was literally capable of doing nothing.
For the first time, in a very long time, I just sat there and did nothing. It was just me and mind.
And it was painful.
It wasn’t my eyes that hurt so much but rather my inability to be productive. I could not escape the thoughts and demands of all the tasks I needed to accomplish and all the deadlines I needed to meet. I could not calm the hurricane of responsibility tormenting within my mind.
Gradually, as I came into acceptance of my incompetence, the storm settled into calmer waters. I was faced with darkness, quite literally, and instead of trying to fight it with light, learned to see within the darkness.
I entered the realm of nothingness and confronted my real self.
They say dreams are the entrance to the portal of our subconscious in which we can learn truths about our deepest selves. But dreams are fleeting, unreliable, and nearly impossible to recall the next morning. How can we make such dramatic conclusions about ourselves based off scraps of illusions or blatant speculations?
But if we allow extensive thinking when we are awake and fully aware of our surroundings, then we not only have control of the territories we allow our mind to wander to but also have a clearer recollection of what we have imaginatively created. Because we are no longer under pressure, whether from our work or other people, we can extract our inner voice and finally listen to it.
The comparison between the under pressure versions of ourselves and relaxed, meditative ones is fascinating. We can discover that maybe it is only with constraint and stress that we can hammer out the highest achieving rendition of our potential. Or we can acknowledge that a carefree environment is a necessity for our creativity and ingenuity to thrive.
We can see how far our minds can wander and the dimensions of our imagination. We can elicit our truest desires and our deepest fears, our greatest strengths and crippling weaknesses, our love and our hate. We can immerse ourselves in an imaginative world or come face to face with reality.
We can finally take time to understand ourselves.
We lay all this out on the table, step back, and then decide what to do with it. Do we bury it again or take it and renovate ourselves? What is the consequence of unrestrained thinking?
Quite frankly, we can think and then never accomplish anything. I can dream of the future but then take no actual steps towards building it. The world would no longer progress if everyone just speculated.
Implementation succeeding introspection is what is monumental. For example, when given a complex homework assignment, instead of immediately tackling it, read and understand the problem, then allow time to contemplate. Everywhere I go, I can think about this assignment, whether it be on a train ride, walking to class, or ordering coffee.
After all, the mind is the most powerful, transportable device we own.
By giving my mind the space to breathe, I can relate this small problem to circumstances in everyday life. I can turn this seemingly ordinary homework question and draw connections to where it is applicable. I can essentially complete my homework “with my mind” so that when I finally sit down to record the solution, I have interpreted the problem on a much grander scale.
That physics homework problem is no longer just a complex statics question pulled out of the textbook. It is now applications towards the construction of the bridge I crossed on my way into the city or the way the Olympic swimmer positioned himself on the diving board before plunging into the water to win gold. The computer science project I was assigned isn’t just a chance to earn more points in the gradebook but rather an inspiration to program several apps that may be beneficial to society.
In the middle of my order of a Philz’ Iced Ecstatic , I speculated on the Medium post I had read that morning about
“loving the misery of uncomfortable situations”.
I related it to the popular fear of public speaking and how confrontation of an audience is the sacrifice to achieving a voice that can be heard. I then asked myself if public speaking is one of my fears like so many others or rather a tool I can use to make a statement. I questioned if TED talks were listened by people in attempt to feel smarter or actually motivated to produce change.
I contemplated all this while asking for medium cream, medium sugar.
Efficiency is generated by transforming nothing into something through thinking.
Looking back on those “dark” days, I appreciate the opportunity to take time from my busy life and do nothing but think. I understand that this activity is quite rare and am grateful for the excuse that mandated me to do it.
I was able to regroup and reorganize to clearly understand what was important and what was insignificant in my life. I allowed logic and emotion to battle with each other and my confidence to trump my fears. I listened to that voice and harmonized with it.
I emerged from my darkness into a light I was now ready to face.
