Do Nothing

My Italian relatives have a saying, “dolce fa niente” which translates to something like “pleasantly doing nothing”.

It’s a version of what you already know. Seize the moment. Enjoy the journey. Stop and smell the roses. Pick a term that speaks to you.

I vividly remember my grandparents, their siblings and spouses sitting around the dining room table sipping coffee and wine, eating plates of antipasto followed by mounds of the best cookies and pastries.

They talked and laughed for hours and hours, never in a hurry for the coming together to end. In fact, the union of them talking (yelling) over each other, in good spirits, felt like a celebration. And it was.

If you were lucky enough to walk in, you were welcomed and served heartily. My grandmother would drag a folding chair from the kitchen saying, “there’s always room at the table for one more.”

Occasionally their party moved onto the side porch but only to catch the afternoon breeze, which extended the lazy day.

In our age of hurry, hurry, hurry, it’s out of our norm to stop, slow down and soak it all in. The majority of our days blur with the stuff that needs to get done. But is it ever really done/finished to our satisfaction? Reality is that we’ll all die with unfinished business in our To-Do boxes. That should be enough to get us to squeeze in the premiere stuff: family, friends, activities we love, and be truly present for a few precious moments every day.

There’s always work, obligations, appointments, deadlines, laundry to fold…you know the drill. We’ve created this hamster wheel. Our body, mind and soul need to step off for a while.

Doing nothing doesn’t mean sitting in a chair staring into space. Well, I suppose it could mean sitting in a chair staring into space, if you call it meditation or prayer.

Today, on purpose, choose to do nothing. And enjoy it.

(Side note: I understand from a reliable source that staring into space and/or doing nothing is easy for men.)

BE F-G AWESOME TODAY!

Image: Unsplash

Addendum:
Author Veronique Vienne penned two books (on my list to read):
The Art of Doing Nothing: Simple Ways to Make Time for Yourself and The Art of the Moment: Simple Ways to Get the Most from Life.