Mindfully mindless – my "Dolce far niente"

I woke up on Tuesday morning neither feeling 100% well nor sick. I had rested on Monday having taken sick leave and the work-o-holic me was ready to spring back to work immediately. But, the uncanny voice within on Tuesday morning was unsettling and divided between – shall I rest today or jump start? Weird as it may feel, I googled “Is it ok to rest” and came across this article “It’s OK to rest” by Bronwen Sciortino. While the author and I have some commonalities: we both talk about asking why and like to simplify, I had a parallel viewpoint on why it’s ok to rest.

It is not only this article by Bronwen but many others that I came across which mostly point to resting or taking a break when you are stuck, lost or overwhelmed to regain your energy. I am neither lost nor stuck in life. Even during these unprecedented times, my family and friends are appearing the adapted normal. My mom continues to complain about my food habits, dad wonders why I am going out in the snow, food is a major discussion point with my sisters, Adil is concerned about candles and plants while Neha cribs about my response time on WhatsApp. I like my work; my colleagues are fun, often weird as we like calling ourselves and we are in a middle of a post-acquisition integration to add to the usual chaos. I have not met any of them in the last few months due to the pandemic. This is as normal as it gets while the world around is striving for vaccines and climate issues. Yes, I am stuck within 4 walls, due to unending lockdown at London, but that is true for the broader society. I’d say it’s ok to rest and enjoy doing nothing. Dolce far niente!

“Dolce far niente is the essence of doing nothing and enjoying it. Nothingness is that pleasant experience of enjoying time going by, letting your thoughts taking over…”

This is no alien concept to all who have a close Italian friend, like Emily, read the book or watched the movie “Eat, Pray Love”.

I rested through Tuesday, being mindful that I am mindless. I let my free-flowing thoughts navigate my day without guardrails or boundaries. I made bladerdeeg, read the book technology fallacy, watched unsolved mysteries on Netflix, worked on postproduction of a picture I had taken (the picture linked above which may not be fully visible because of the layout limitations) and polished off a tub of salted caramel ice-cream; all of these while still resting and recovering. There was a sense of content at the end of the day. The content of being – being present in the moment. And, Wednesday was a super charge day and productive, personally and at work.

We are trying to keep up with the nuances of life, every day, from personal battles to work deadlines. Why wait to get overwhelmed, lost or stuck. Stop, recharge and resurface early on.