Thursday, September 24, 2009

The Joy Diet Chapter One: Nothing

The first ingredient in The Joy Diet is nothing. Spend at least fifteen minutes a day doing absolutely nothing.

I though I would breeze right through this ingredient. I'm a great proponent of puttering which is surely a first cousin to doing nothing. Puttering is basically doing nothing but moving around while you do it, right? Surely morphing this into nothing would be a snap?!

Well, not so much. Even though Martha gives us the option of moving while we do nothing, I really wanted to try something new and committed to sitting.

For the first few days, when I sat down to do nothing I would start to fall asleep. I actually fell asleep once and while I enjoyed the power nap, it didn't seem right. Sleeping is something. I wanted nothing.

I kept at it. I learned early on to turn the ringer off on the phone. I set a timer, but then paid way too much attention to it. As the week wore on, I got very good at just sensing when the fifteen minutes was up.

Practicing doing nothing was pleasurable. I was always (even when I didn't fall asleep) refreshed after my fifteen minutes of absolutely nothing. I noticed that I seemed to be more productive this week. I accomplished more during the day. That fifteen minutes of quiet expanded into my day in interesting ways. My mornngs were more serene. Most days, I faced the late afternoon calmer and with more energy for the late afternoon/dinner/bedtime rush. I liked that.

Next week's ingredient: truth.


24 comments:

  1. I love sleep the ultimate nothing activity

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  2. Isn't it crazy, that we are not used to do nothing for only 15 minutes?!?!
    Are we all that busy?! Sometimes I think, it just can't be healthy.

    About the timer, I experienced the same, so I try to set my inner watch for 15 minutes, if it's 12, never mind, if it's 20- all right! ;)

    Enjoy your nothing! :)

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  3. i absolutely adore how you said that puttering was the first cousin to nothing! :D that is brilliant! i love how doing nothing can lead to so much more! kudos to you on your productive week.

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  4. I know how easy it is to be distraced with thoughts all the time. I like how you keep at it though. I am so excited to see how we all progress with nothing as we continue to persevere and move forward with the book!

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  5. I love this "puttering is the first cousin to nothing"!!!

    I too began to find the sense of time...that I could "know" 15 minutes...but it took me the week.

    And I too found I had more interest, more energy, more pleasure in things I was doing in my day when I started it with at 15 minutes of nothing at all just for me.

    Here's to truth!

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  6. The first day the timer distracted me to know end as well. Afterward I just kind of knew when it was time to return. :)

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  7. I love how at the end of the week your mind could sense when the time was up. It really became a part of your day.

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  8. seems like we all struggled with nothing!

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  9. Hmm, interesting note about the timer. I wonder what setting my inner timer would do.

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  10. I too was amazed at how difficult doing nothing was or is. Have fun with Truth next week.

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  11. I love your simple card... and I can relate to your thoughts on nothingness! It is truly amazing how 15 minutes could be contagious throughout the rest of the day, though, isn't it?

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  12. I really enjoyed your post. You did a great job at nothing. I am glad to hear it has had a wonderful affect on you life too.
    See ya next week. Thank for stopping by.

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  13. I think sleeping is a great way to do nothing. Sometimes this past week, my 15 minutes became 30 minutes, or even an hour! I suspect that I did drift away into a sleep-like state at times too. It was good anyway. Glad to be sharing this with you!

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  14. I'm a putterer, too. And also decided that that wasn't quite what was called for this week. I almost fell asleep one day when I tried my nothing lying down. But you're right - you do feel refreshed after that little break. And I'm finally getting to reorganizing my studio after a couple of years of promising to do that. Could be a factor that I've joined this venture - between the nothing we have played with and all the inspiration of so many other souls - thank you for your post.

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  15. Hello Laura,
    Sounds like your doing nothing has brought you some positive things, I also have fallen asleep meditating, but I believe it is all part of the process, in finding the joy!

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  16. I think I know your first cousin ... puttering! Being quiet is refreshing and calming. Glad your found a little NOTHING!

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  17. I may try this nothing. it sounds good.

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  18. I also though initially that puttering was related to nothing. But soon learned I was wrong. I am so happy for you that you were able to find your way to nothing and it had positive impacts for you.

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  19. That seems so difficult, absolutely nothing! Excellent, Laura!

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  20. Would I lose more weight FASTER if I allowed myself an HOUR to do nothing? Just wondering.

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  21. Greetings from a fellow putterer!! Congrats on discovering the joys of nothing!

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  22. i like your post a lot. you have a fun way of describing your experiences.

    you're right, sleeping is something. so, is riding the train, which is what i attempted to have qualify as nothing. although i might space out during the ride, i'm still doing... or should i say, i'm benefiting from what the train is doing.

    i'm gonna try nothing again this week.

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  23. I love how you progressed through and came out of the other side of nothing with something phenomenal!

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  24. Sounds like you did pretty good with this one!

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