As I sat on a bench on campus today between meetings, it felt quite strange not having homework or a computer on my lap. In sitting doing nothing, I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I'll be honest, I couldn't handle it for long, so I quickly snatched a notebook and pen from my bag to begin writing some thoughts down.
Do you ever stop to consider how foreign the concept of free time feels in this day and age? We dash from one thing to the next, moving so quickly that we forget to breathe. To sit and do nothing - it's just odd. There's a voice telling you to always do more, keep moving, never stop. If you have free time - well, you just aren't doing enough.
Why is that? Why don't we allow ourselves to simply do nothing? We seem to insist that by sitting on a bench we are wasting time that could be invested in so many other pursuits. But are we really wasting time? Don't we need that chance to hit pause more than many of the tasks we jam in its place?
