"…Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves just floating, floating….refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current; this is what we call the floating world…” Asai Ryoi, in Ukiyo Monogatari (Tales of the Floating World, 1661)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Daily Life: Meditation on the Virtue of Doing Nothing
Or, in the case of this weekend, next to nothing. I spent most of the weekend just doing whatever incidental thing popped into my mind and spending a large amount of time doing nothing, and I have to say, it was very nice. I only went outside a couple of time - breakfast with a friend, a movie late Saturday afternoon (The Taking of Pelham 123) and then, about an hour or so ago, an early dinner with another friend over at the Cheesecake Factory. Beyond that, I read, I watched a couple of movies on DVD, I read some more, I napped, I took a hot bath, I got lost in Flickr and Deviant Art, and that was about it. It was just a very good weekend for doing next to nothing. Next weekend I am going to house-sit for my friends Pierre and Helen (and dog sit the infamous Timothy Lector). I am planning on pulling the world in after me. I am going to head over with some movies to watch on the DVD (though, they have a movie collection that rivals mine), something to read on the Kindle, and my laptop, and then I am going to spend the entire three day weekend doing next to nothing again. In light of the heavy work flow of the last couple of years, it seems a wonderful luxury to indulge in inactivity. So, I am savoring it as best I can.
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