Saturday Essay: On Doing Nothing at All

It's more fun than you might think.

Fellow Substacker Emma Gannon’s book ‘A Year of Nothing’ prompted this article in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/may/27/life-sabbatical-doing-absolutely-nothing-secret-of-happiness

I haven’t read Emma’s book yet, but the article, as well as the book, begs the question, ‘is the secret of happiness doing nothing at all’?

This is in fact a question that has long vexed me - actually in quite a serious way. I often feel highly unmotivated by the things that seem to motivate most people - money, the ownership of property, work - and as a result can find myself feeling quite paralysed.

There may be a simple diagnosis and solution to this conundrum. That I am lazy and that I should get off my arse and do something. But given how many books I’ve written (twelve) and how many children I’ve helped bring up ( four ) it seems inadequate as an explanation. Lazy or not, I’ve done an awful lot of stuff in my life.

Being busy definitely has its advantages. It bestows a sense of purpose, artificial or not. It stops you thinking too much ( definitely one of my most painful habits). It can be profitable and it is obviously useful for a certain spectrum of activity. It even bestows status - which is the response to the polite questions ‘how are you?’ is so often a grimace and ‘really busy'!’ It’s a boast dressed up as a complaint.

I am quite happy to respond to the same query, ‘nothing’. Which seems to puzzle people. But it is often the truth. I mooch about a lot. I stare out of the window. I lie in bed. Does this make me a useless member of society?