The Act or Art of being busy

What is this life if full of care?

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows!

I wonder if William Henry Davis had visualized the always busy state of people today when he wrote this poem in 1911.

Sometime back, my daughter came to me and she wanted me to listen to her sing “favourite things”. From the movie Sound of music”. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and  warm wollen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings- these are a few of my favourite things! I realized those lyrics don’t make any sense to me anymore. When was the last time I stopped and even considered something as favourite! I m so busy that I just do not have the time to savour the simple things of life.

Life has become a checklist of activities- got up-ticked, ablutions –ticked, breakfast- ticked, hugged the kids- ticked, came to work- ticked, worked hard- ticked, buttered the boss-ticked, smiled at everyone at the evening dinner meeting-ticked, reached home-ticked, spoke to better half-ticked, prayed to God- ticked, gone-to bed-ticked!

I remember we used to paraphrase on a quote by German philosopher Goethe- Life is action not contemplation. I guess our generation has taken this idiom a bit too seriously.  To us life is action and only action. Everyone is so busy nowadays. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something related. And technology has made it so easy to be busy. Every second, people are looking at their mobile phones, to check if there is an incoming mail or message and there is such an urgency to reply at that precise moment. This busy – ness is like a re-assurance that we matter to the world, a hedge against emptiness and triviality.

I often wonder what we are doing to ourselves.  Why are we conducting ourselves so robotically across this journey called life? Why this pressing need to always keep doing something? We seem incapable of tolerating even a moment of doing nothing. Why does it seem not ok to be without something important to do for a little while. I read a quote recently, “I was so busy having fun that I did not have the time to be happy”. Our lives have been drained out of happiness because we see no virtue in idleness. But we are wrong there. Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body. It is in idleness that the brain rejuvenates. There is a term called creative idleness. History is full of stories of great inventions and discoveries that have happened in idleness. Archimedes’ “Eureka” in the bath, Newton’s apple and so many others. Said Agatha Christie, I do not think necessity is the mother of invention – invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness.

We have thoroughly learnt the art of being busy its time to re-learn the art of being idle. Lets indulge in small pleasures and bouts of silliness. Lets jump in a water puddle, get drenched in the rain, gaze up at the stars- count them, break into a spontaneous dance, search for shapes of horses, elephants, kings on carriages amidst the floating clouds, build sand castles, throw little pebbles into the water and watch the ripples!

Its high time we come out of this check-listed lifestyle and give ourselves some idle time. The time to stand and stare as long as sheep or cows. This might not add wealth to our purses, but would surely add richness to our soul. Lets allow yourselves some time to contemplate, some time to be happy. May be we will be able to unleash the creativity which now lies sunk in this quagmire of busy chores. Rest the brain, rest the body. Play, day-dream! It is in our dreams that we see not what is but what can be!