Doing Nothing is Something Worth Doing

 “Do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing, and you'll never be criticized.“

-Elbert Hubbard, John Noth Willys-

There are lot kind of addictions. Common, as we all know are drugs & Alcohol. Nevertheless nowadays, there is another kind of addiction, a new comers to the hall, and we can call it addicted to Speed or what Mr. Big, a rock band in 1988 from California best described in one of the title of their song: Addicted to that Rush! The rapid improvement of technology does not only make life easier, but  faster at the same time. William Scheureman rightly says, "Any attempt to make sense of the human condition at the start of the new century must begin with the analysis of the social experience of speed". As human stays in the society of speed (term introduced by Judy Wajman in his book Pressed for Time), there is a demand of high productivity and thus, multi-tasking skill is kind of compulsory, although human in general are not wired for it. Take for instance our cell phone. There is a feature voice call message. We do not need to typing the text anymore, we can just speak, and our voices will be converted to text instantly. Fascinatingly, we can do it, while we are driving.

           As we are all used to this speedy mood, we are not just addicted to it, we are obsessed to it! This is a new form of eschatology. We are not afraid that time will ended soon in certain point of time, but we are trembled to be left over by others. The society of speed really bifurcate people into rival or enemy. This addiction and obsession of this speed is oppressing us up to the point, we are softly determined by it. Therefore, it is not odd we can find out that lot of people surpasses their breaking point. It causes  burn out, depression and sleeplessness. Therefore, we need to be aware and cautious, take a step back and rethink also examine our experience of speed. We should note that Leisure is not an act of laziness. We should never ever mixed them together. Paradoxically speaking, I argue that leisure is the key to productivity whereas over-work is the main cause of laziness. Take for example people who work fast and rush without stop. The next they, they will prone to laziness and wake up feeling terribly lazy compare to people who set a intentional time, for leisure. In fact, people who take leisure wisely, will have more energy to do their work, and proven to be more productive.

          Doing nothing, or to use more precise word, "resting", is not like what the society of speed said, an useless thing. Doing nothing is actually something worth doing. Recent research shows that doing nothing is vital to creativity and innovation. Simon Gottschalk, a sociologist mentioned in his writing that as legend told, Isaac Newton grasped the law of gravity sitting under an apple tree. Archimedes discovered the law of buoyancy relaxing in his bathtub, while Albert Einstein was well-known for staring for hours into space in his office. Apparently, without doing nothing, something great will never be accomplished. Anyway, I think not doing something is also better than failling to do something so, why we so afraid of it? Doing nothing is a kind of self care, to tune our false melody before and after we experiencing the blazing speed, in the society of speed. I think my lovely fiance best conclude this wisdom, as she said to me in one of our phone call at evening;

"Sleep Now!"