Sitting By the Dock of the Bay

Me staring out the window

Doing absolutely nothing…

You know that song, “Sittin’ by the dock of the bay, wastin’ time?” Me and my friend used to say that is what we love doing, sitting by the dock of the bay. Wastin’ time is fun. In fact, it might be the best thing to do with time. 

Right now, I have assignments to grade, my room to clean, dishes to wash, laundry to do, but I’d rather sit here and waste time. There is not enough said about doing nothing and the benefits of that. 

Sometimes I just want to sit. I don’t want to be doing anything. It’s almost a type of meditation. It’s stopping. Just stop. Breathe. 

When I’m depressed I spend a lot of time doing nothing, just laying there in my bed. I think sometimes I use depression as a way to stop. 

There is something about western culture that promotes always doing something. What about the beauty of doing nothing?

Now that I’m not depressed I make time to sit and do nothing. I just listen to music and sit, sometimes with no music at all. I remember I had a roommate and college who thought it was bizarre that I would do this sometimes, just sit and do nothing. I think she thought it was scary. 

There is nothing scary about it. I on the other hand, think there is something scary about moving all the time, about always having to do something. If you can’t be alone and quiet with yourself, maybe you don’t like yourself enough. 

SItting, Just sitting

Staring into space…

image by Toufik MEKBEL

I try even to stop thinking and just be. There is not enough importance placed on just being as opposed to doing all the time. Just be. 

It’s raining outside today. Earlier I was just sitting here, noticing the rain. There is something really soothing about that. 

I’m getting older and I notice things more. I notice the squirrels outside playing on the trees. I notice the blue sky and the flowers budding in the spring. 

I notice myself. Me. Just me. Sitting here being me. 

That’s just it, I am me being me. I don’t need tasks to do. I need to sometimes stop doing and notice what I am being. 

Am I being happy and content? Am I being strong? Am I just being?

There is so much to do, I know that. Even writing this is doing something, something important. There is so much to think about, I wonder about so many things, and that is important too. 

But there is a beauty in doing none of it. 

Nothing is so beautiful. It is the space between things that holds the things. 

nina