Parte 6.A - Reading

I know people who will do anything to avoid looking after their children at a playground. They will ask their friends to go with them so they don’t have to do it alone, so they can listen to music and remain mentally absent.

I should say that, in general, I am very good at “doing nothing”. I could sit looking at the wood on a table for a long time and be pleased. These days, there is a lot of literature on the need for children to do “nothing” in order to escape the constant demands of working parents who give them too much to do and the use of screens. However, there is less talk about the advantages of “doing nothing” for adults although this habit often helps to develop thinking abilities to be active and efficient.

Lazy periods may seem useless; however, they can be valuable. Once, I had to wait in a row for an hour. This was actually a relaxing moment that made me think which was the last time I had a moment that I remember with the deepest nostalgia. On another occasion, I forgot my phone at home when I went out, and it was amazing! I learnt a lot from that experience: being able to take a breath and enjoy the simple things when I sat in the sunshine while my children rode their bikes up and down and then left them to play in the sand.

The funny thing about the two experiences of “doing nothing”, passively waiting for something to end and going out without my phone, were the greatest moments of active and efficient activities which I’ve done with my time.