BUSY DOING NOTHING by Liz Manning

 

Since my last episode of depression, I’ve developed the habit of spending a few minutes first thing in my garden. I might wander round and check out the plants growing there. I might watch birds or listen for their song. But mostly I just sit, absorbing the atmosphere, letting my mind and soul soak quietly.

If I miss this habit for a few days, I notice a difference: an increased tendency to stress and anxiety, poorer decision making, less concentration, and more fatigue. Go back to it and I’m restored, reset. It’s been a Godsend in the pressure and constant change of 2020.

In Keren Dibbens Wyatt’s latest book, Recital of Love, stillness is described as ‘a place of discovery…It enables you to notice. There is glory and goodness all around.’

That’s certainly what I’ve found in those morning minutes. I’ve examined the distinct colours of a wood pigeon. I’ve watched the wind wag a long leaf like an angry finger and then twirl it like an orchestral conductor. A late rose carried memories of my mum on its delicate scent.

Not everyone finds it easy to stop and just be. It takes practise and a relaxed discipline to let go of tasks and worries in order to be still. It’s something active not passive.

It reminds me of the song ‘Busy Doing Nothing’. Check out the lyrics.  

On a day off when my husband working, he came down for a coffee and asked if I was having a nice morning doing nothing.

“But I haven’t been doing nothing.” I replied. “I’ve been thinking.”

To be honest, my mind had wandered around several topics and drifted without purpose down several paths of ideas. But letting my thoughts brew in this way felt as much a part of the creative process as physically writing something.

I wonder how much time we allow ourselves to do this as writers and not feel guilty?

And does God set a precedent in this?

I think yes. He rested on the seventh day and maybe He spent that time remembering the fun of creation, contemplating its glory, and letting His thoughts wander over how His world would develop. Not only that but after each bout of creativity, He must have stopped to gaze at the newness in order to pronounce it good.

And what about Jesus?

We know that He took time to get away from the crowds and His disciples to quietly be with His Father. And then there’s those moments when He doodles in the dust, mulling over His answer perhaps, when asked to pass judgement over the woman caught in adultery.  

And how about you?

Do you allow yourself mulling time, space for ideas to quietly brew at the back of your mind?  Do you block out part of your day or week to quietly observe and absorb what’s around you? And do you remember this is all writing?

Liz Manning fits writing around being an Occupational Therapist, BB captain, wife, and mum to two adult sons. Or perhaps it's the other way round. She blogs regularly at https://thestufflifeismadeofblog.wordpress.com/