Doing nothing! I remember, as a young man, complaining to an elderly friend; “Down the road, I saw some folks just sitting on their front porch— just doing nothing!” She wisely said, “maybe they had been working hard and needed a rest.” At the time I was working full time as well as scratching out time to finish my doctoral dissertation on—- “Time Management.” I couldn’t imagine “down” time.
Obviously I was having tunnel vision. I was so focused on making time count (literally count,) that I missed the value of “sitting,” —down time. Maybe it didn’t happen to Otis Redding the way the cartoonist put it, but it is an “Ah Ha” moment;
An article in the business journal, “Inc.”, touts “A Day of Rest: 12 Scientific Reasons It Works.” The article speaks in detail of good results such as stress reduction, increased productivity, mental and emotional improvement, even more joy. In an article, “The science of rest and why it is important to daydream” Professor Claudia Hammond said, “…we suffer from a rest deficit. We need to rest more. And to rest better. Resting is good not just for wellbeing but for productivity.”
It shouldn’t have taken the global study, which revealed this insight. We’ve known this for over five thousand years. The sabbath; “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath…”
Time and again, research shows the need for, and excellent results from, appropriate rest; “sittin’ ” is one way. Folklore is flush with stories telling of modern tools and conveniences that were invented to work easier. True or apocryphal, they are the result of someone’s boredom with, or tired of, mundane or repetitive tasks. “Tired” being the operative word.
In the Old Testament, Jacob’s life came together one night while he slept, after a long, tiring journey. Not an unusual occurrence. Do you remember the oft used term, related to a weighty decision; “Why don’t you sleep on it?” It is not an invitation to laziness. Inactivity, as I assumed about the porch sitters, is not being lazy or non productive. Maybe it is an essential function of our humanity.
I think I will to out on my deck , take a chair, sit back, listen to the birds, watch the breeze in the trees, and, as Otis Redding would have said, sit here, “wasting time.”
Post Script
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) an American singer and songwriter, is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Redding’s style of singing gained inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His singing style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s.Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia, and at the age of 2, moved to Macon, Georgia. His father got a job working at Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, GA. He died of Tuberculosis,.Redding quit school at age 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard‘s backing band, the Upsetters, and by performing in talent shows at the historic Douglass Theatre in Macon. In 1958, he joined Johnny Jenkins‘s band, the, with whom he toured the Southern states as a singer and driver. An unscheduled appearance on a Stax recording session led to a contract and his first single, “These Arms of Mine“, in 1962. Redding was entombed at his ranch in Round Oak, GA, about twenty miles (30 km) north of Macon.[89]Jerry Wexler delivered the eulogy.[90] Redding died just three days after re-recording “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.