Niksen: The Dutch Word for Doing Nothing
The subtle art of doing nothing, and REST as an essential component of creative life
As humanity spends time chasing lists of a hundred tasks to be done for the sake of being more productive and calculating how much they can fit into the unfortunately non-flexible 24 hours a day, a small virus has shown us that life cannot be planned so mechanically. We ignored ancient teachings about balance and instead set out at 4 a.m. to complete 23 tasks before everyone else woke up. We forgot one very important thing: our soul.
In the ancient teachings of the Indians, there is the knowledge that when they act fast, the spirit can lag behind, so they must rest for a while and wait for their spirit to catch up with them. Similarly, the value of living in the moment is emphasized by the Sufis, who are the followers of Rumi's tradition. Likewise, Buddhism bases almost its entire philosophy on the depth of living in the present moment. Today, we will reflect on the importance of slowing down using a Central European concept. Niksen.
Niksen, in Dutch, means to do nothing and relax our minds by emptying our thoughts. However, it is not the same as meditation. In meditation, it is necessary to be able to stop the mind’s production of thoughts and to focus on the present moment; at the very least, an effort should be made in this direction. Niksen, on the other hand, doesn’t include making any effort. You do whatever you want just for the sake of doing it. So, for example, it means watching out of the window without trying to stop your thoughts, but rather, if you have thoughts, letting them pass, and if you feel like humming a song, go on watching accompanied by that song. It is an effortless state of being, completely surrendering to the moment.
A great opportunity for lazy people like me. Spending time by "allowing myself to live that moment calmly" without trying to stop the thoughts running in my head and the lists of things to do without focusing on them.
On the other hand, a study is showing that doing nothing actually gives our brain an opportunity, with very heartwarming results. In summary, as Billy Oppenheimer tells us, our brain does not sit idle; it does something while we are actually doing nothing. It even does something very useful: it connects things!
“Neuroimaging studies of the brain during “REST” (random episodic silent thought, also referred to as the default state) suggest that the association cortices are the primary areas that are active during this state and that the brain is spontaneously reorganizing and acting as a self-organizing system”
"We were not [seeing] a passive silent brain during the 'resting state,' but rather a brain that was actively connecting thoughts and experiences.”
What could be more basic to creativity? Organizing and connecting everything we've accumulated. Rest gives us the most important thing we need to write a story or solve a headache problem we've been stuck with for a long time.
Other semi-automatic activities that are different from what we usually do, such as knitting and painting, I would include in my own niksen experience.
Then we can say hello to a life of rest. I promise to be balanced. Anyway, don't worry, the curious student within me never completely rests. Life is full of experiences. Work and study and read and travel and walk and run and after all, of course, niksen.
Thanks for reading!
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I'm not particularly great at resting, so this was a nice reminder as we head into the weekend!