As we progress further into lockdown, and physical human interaction drifts further away from our realities, it seems to become harder to stay motivated and produce at the same pace. Thinking about DOING NOTHING as a mode of (un)productive rest, to slow down from normally chaotic timetables and rethink what it actually means to be 'productive'. ? !
i shut off and rest. a selection of 'guides' written by myself and friends on how to DO NOTHING:
an exploration into collaborative doing nothingness through online platforms provided by my university (the institution)
and then we had a chat about doing nothing and the chat about doing nothing was actually about all the biggest things. we talked about capitalism and materialism and guilt. and how hard it is to do nothing because we have been so programmed to do something that even when we were doing nothing we are still scrolling or watching buying.
we talked about how even in this time of lockdown when all our socialising is virtual, the most common thing to do over virtual communication is to make a ‘pub quiz’. the need to do something, to have a structure and to compete for the winning prize is so engrained into us that without noticing we are bringing the culture of competitiveness and achievement into our personal and informal conversations.
we talked about the New Age communities who are often shunned by society for a lack of contribution. we discussed how they should not have to contribute to the lives of others as they are doing what is essential for their peoples and then enjoying themselves rather than feeding in to cultures that they disagree with and who give nothing to them anyway.
a conversation thread i found intriguing was thinking about online shopping during lockdown. personally i rarely buy anything new or second hand online but since lockdown have felt more of an urge to do so. is this due to boredom? to more free time? perhaps since i am being furloughed i feel that i am gaining free money as i am not technically working for it and so feel less responsible for how it should be spent. one thing a friend suggested was that an increase in desire to online shop is due to the excitement of receiving a foreign object into the home after outside contact has been restricted so. this small amount of change can be hugely stimulating for individuals who crave that connection from the outside world or who are isolating completely alone.
FINAL PRINTABLE COLLABORATIVE DOING NOTHINGNESS PDF
