When I visited Turkey I noticed that older men sitting out in the sun with their cups of coffee was a common sight. Many shops and cafes seem to have no problem with these guys sitting around for hours, day after day. This image of people ‘sitting outside a café all day and not really doing anything’ started a conversation around this.
The image seems to suggest the idea similar to that expressed by poet W H Davies What is this life if, full of care,/We have no time to stand and stare. Maybe it is a good idea for many of us to slow down a little bit, to spend a little time doing nothing.
Perhaps it’s something of a European pass time, but we would probably see something similar in India as well – at tea shops and under prominent trees in villages and towns as well.
This tweet shares the Italian experience – people playing cards or just doing nothing.
This tweet suggests that attitude is something that we would find even beyond Europe, in most Mediterranean countries.
‘Doing nothing’ can include any enjoyable activity such as reading the paper, people-watching, playing a board game or even taking a little snooze.
Sounds great to me! In a world that celebrates hard work and industry and busyness and looking busy all the time, doing nothing is an art that few seem to value.
Many cultures have the tradition of slowing down, taking the time to appreciate the simple things in life. Enjoying a fragrant beverage, having a good-natured argument or simply sitting in companionable silence --- we don’t have to rushing around doing something all the time.
Most of the images shared featured older men, not women. Women always seem to have stuff to do it seems; perhaps they don't have the luxury to normalise doing nothing?
Why are the women not enjoying masterly inactivity or basking in the sun or cultivating the art of doing nothing, asked many of the tweeple.
Perhaps they do, but it is clearly the exception and not the rule. Most of the images shared were those of men and not women.
This is something that we actually don’t see much of in India – the sort of zest for life that senior citizens seem to have in many other countries. They meet friends, socialise, travel, pursue hobbies and enjoy their golden years. Public spaces are also elder-friendly and communities (and let’s face it, the weather) also support this. Seniors actually enjoying their lives --- maybe this is something else we need to normalise. Let us normalise doing nothing at all ages too – at least occasionally.
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