The Reward of Doing Nothing

Rumble. Hum. Clunk.

​Something about running engines gets the creative juices flowing like nothing else.

My recent trip to Portugal was personal proof of it.

I study ecology in college, and this year, we were graced with a change of scenery: cloudy Ireland turned into a week of sun down south in the Algarve region.

We explored the Iberian south coast. Species we were used to seeing as blurry jpegs became real to us, three dimensions and all.

I could see fiddler crabs wave at me from meters away, and watch swamphens beat their breasts in flight. Truly magical

To make our week worth it, we hopped from beach to mountain to forest to city, all under the trustworthy hands of our coach driver.

And this is where this email becomes an email about writing.

I love the notes app on my phone -Google Keep, to be precise.

Whether I am in the sweaty carriages of the London Underground or cruising twelve thousand metres in the air, I am never doomed to sit idly. The opportunity to write follows me everywhere.

But the adjective 'doomed' is unfair, and you'll soon see why.

In Portugal, I used almost every spare moment on the bus to tap away at my phone, writing the next script or newsletter.

In fact, I started this one as the bus weaved its way up to Monchique, a town nestled in a gorgeous mountain range.

This pattern continued for most of the trip, but one morning, as the early sun glowed through the bus window and my hand was reaching for the phone in my pocket, I had a change of heart.

Am I right to be filling every spare moment?

Am I truly 'doomed' with idle hands?

I slipped my phone back inside.

One maxim that's been bouncing around my mind for the last few months is to give yourself the time to do nothing.

Focus is great. It gets shit done.

But the human mind did not grow in a world of timetables, productivity and meetings. It knew hunting, play, and perhaps above all, rest.

We ought to invite that prehistoric, carefree attitude back from time to time and let our mind wander loose, else we risk our lives slipping away in a blur -unremembered and unloved.

And this is not only a call to cherish the simple gifts of daily life.

I can even win over the productivity bros with another angle to the same idea:

Time spent 'doing nothing' is time spent thinking.

A free mind will uncover treasures, whether it's a brilliant idea, perspective to your problems, or even a chance to pause and reflect over what really matters.

You've felt this already.

Maybe during a silent walk through the park, or while chopping vegetables, or in the shower.

After all, the only reason 'shower thoughts' exist as an idea is because phones aren't waterproof.

When I chose to not write during that bus trip, the reason was unimportant. Maybe it was to appreciate the view, or maybe it was to plan how the week ahead would unfold.

Either way, it couldn't be done with my hands full and mind occupied.

So by all means: read, write, and create with relentless vigor, but remember to stop and look around every so often.

Be blessed with idle hands.

Yours,

Odysseas

P.S. I know phones are waterproof nowadays -I took some creative liberties for the sentence to flow. Besides, it's still true in practice -right? You're not bringing your phone into the shower are you? Psycho...