The Art of Doing Nothing

The Italian phrase for "the art of doing nothing" is "Dolce far niente".

It literally translates to "sweetness of doing nothing" and embodies the concept of enjoying moments of idleness and tranquillity without feeling the pressure to be productive. 

I must say weaning myself from heavily conditioned widespread/ global hyper vigilance and hyper-production —- this was the whole of 2023 —- it felt like how an addict must feel going through rehab. 

This is a hard-wired “addiction” to so many - we are heavily conditioned in it as children. Across schools and countries. 

It takes a culture like Italy where the opposite is the way of life — to be immune to that global tide. 

At first, it felt quite maddening. And impossible. And irresponsible. (Shame on me for slacking off!!) 

It only took ten sessions and my guides finally hitting me hard and telling me — “No, Nic. Claiming rest (for my system to literally crash, at the time) — isn’t going to be #50 on your list. It’s not going to be #10. It now needs to be #1!!

And so I did. A single mother with lists longer than both arms and legs. Claiming rest. That was madness. 

But, the world didn’t end. And in fact, my kids found the softness refreshing - it gave them windows of opportunity to step-up, instead of me doing everything all the time -  the softness gave them the chance to contribute, and even (now) look after me at times. Granted they were much smaller in my hyoervigilance and more reliant on me. This was the perfect time/ timing. 

A friend and I tackled the garden yesterday, after pausing work on it in the intense summer heat, and this recent storm - the veggie garden - it was overgrown, and it was us getting back into finishing some structural work. 

My whole body felt screwed at the end of the day. Tho my Soul felt happy 😊. But I literally could not move from the bench I was lying flat on. 

I woke up to find Lexi hovering over me - having cooked a full lunch for me. Very lovingly - she packed it in with a lot of good ingredients (capsicums, greens 🥬etc, she didn’t have to, teenagers - they usually do it simple/ bare minimum)… plus freshly squeezed juice. 

It was good to receive. 

I’m not done with this weaning off of hyper vigilance and hyper production. 

I’m still finding my balance with it. 

Mastering the Art of Doing Nothing - IS, an art form. 

It’s a completely different language. 

The rest, and pause, and waiting… until I get a clear “Go”/ “Green Light” from Spirit, is the easier bit so far — I find that relationship with Spirit is stronger. I’ve been embracing that primary relationship fully, and cultivating my dialogue with Spirit. Ie using my Claire’s (Clair audience, Clairvoyance, etc etc) not just for clients, but primarily for my Self in my own life. 

So that bit has been good and enjoyable.