An Ode to Nothing
To do “nothing” has never meant precisely what it sounds like. Rather, it means to do something with no true value to larger society or your own personal or professional endeavors (but to do something, nonetheless). For instance, should my dad call me up and ask, “What are you doing this weekend,” and I say, “nothing,” that does not mean I plan to face a wall all day twiddling my thumbs or lie in bed staring up at the ceiling and counting the popcorn kernels. My weekend full of “nothing” means that I am likely planning to watch a lot of television, make a nice dent in my book, go grocery shopping, do laundry, etc. “Nothing” just means nothing notable.
There have been many times in life that doing nothing has riddled me with guilt or anxiety. It’s hard to watch seven straight episodes of Schitt’s Creek and feel that there is not something else I should be doing. But I am here to say, with all my ethos (that’s sarcasm), that today is not the day for these thoughts.
The past year has taken an extreme toll on our world’s collective mental health. And to make a generalization like that, I have had to know of many individual cases, myself included. Now more than ever, escapism is sacred. But it seems paradoxical to need escape now, since the pandemic has given us few other options than the dreaded nothing. But escape does not always mean from something physical, like a job or an unhealthy relationship or a dirty house. You can escape from your own mind, and our minds are all that we’ve had for a while.
This piece is titled “An Ode To Nothing” to help us all realize that it is so fine to have no plans other than with a handful of Dove chocolate and the latest episode of WandaVision (my evening). In fact, during these rough times, it is encouraged to take some time to ponder the struggles of The Avengers rather than using that same time to linger on the things that weigh us down.
Now, I am not advocating here for ignorance towards life’s very real obstacles and tests of will. I am simply advocating for a mental distraction bound by levity or unimportance—focusing your mind on something that need not matter in a week or even an hour. And I am advocating for losing all sense of shame while doing so.
It is extraordinarily human to want to spend a day lazing around, avoiding responsibilities, and not seeing another soul. I am letting you know that this is actually healthy (as long as it’s not what you do every day, in which case I would refer you to someone with slightly more ethos). When we dare not go to a gym, or eat indoors, or meet strangers, or sing karaoke in Koreatown, we must embrace what we do have: the luminous possibility of nothingness.
This year has given each and every one of us a lot to grapple with, and these troubling times are ongoing. There have been many more respectable articles than this published about the rise of the fall of mental health in young people, the rise of work burnout, the rise of uncertainty and anxiety for the future. When we are alone with ourselves, we are constantly listening to our life’s to-do list, constantly thinking about the meaning of the actions we take in this vacuum. We deserve a break from our own thoughts. Think about Schitt’s Creek instead. (No really, if you have not seen it, check it out. Also recommend the Night Stalker documentary, if you desire a different vibe of nothing.)
This weekend, try doing nothing. Or take a mental health day from work, and do nothing (if only I could practice what I preach). When your dad calls you and asks about weekend plans, don’t shy away from the truth if that truth is “nothing,” because you should be patting yourself on the back for taking the time you need to hit reset on your mind, wear those bleach stained sweatpants that drag when you walk, make yourself those pancakes. It may feel like nothing, but it’s not.