The Power of Idleness

Prayer for the Day presented by Steve Taylor.

Good morning.

I’ve often thought that human beings are the most inappropriately named species on Earth, in that we don’t spend much time being. That is, we don’t spend much time inactive, doing nothing in particular. We prefer doing to being. Many of us feel guilty if we’re idle for long.

But idleness is important. It allows us to slow down and recharge. It allows us to reconnect with ourselves.

Even more than that, idleness can be a great source of creativity.

Many of the greatest ideas and inventions in human history have emerged from doing nothing. The concept of coordinate geometry suddenly occurred to Rene Descartes when he was half asleep in bed, watching a fly buzz around the room. One night, the physicist Nils Bohr was drifting off to sleep, and had a vision of the nucleus of the atom, with the electrons spinning around it, just like the solar system with the sun and planets. In this way he ‘discovered’ the structure of the atom and won the Nobel Prize.

Many great songs and poems have emerged from sleep and daydreaming too. For example, Paul McCartney woke up one morning with the whole of the song, Yesterday, playing inside his head.

Often, when we’re busy, our minds are full of associational thoughts, chattering away about things we have to do and or that have happened recently, so there is no space for creative insights to arise.

But when our minds are quiet, our mental boundaries seem to grow softer, allowing inspiration to flow through.

Maybe today, if you can, treat yourself to some idleness, when you’re not active and your mind isn’t focused on a screen or a device.

Don’t think of idleness as unproductive. It’s essential for your well-being, and may yield some of the most inspired ideas of your life.

Blessings.