The Hard Work Of Being "Lazy"

"Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone; 'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything. Nothing at all."    -Bruno Mars, The Lazy Song

Sometimes throughout the day, and without quite knowing why, we would somewhat or rather slip into a "lazy" mood of sorts. And when we do enter that state, we're simply unable to do routines that are part of our lives. Be it that daily 5 minute-easy stretch or to reply to the endless torrent of messages that hit us like a tsunami through our phone. On any given day, we're used to & accepting of such trivial tasks that don't seem like chores, but yet we feel feeble and would just like to press "pause". 

As a matter of fact, the only thing we seem to have an appetite for, is to flop oneself onto the couch or bed, and stare at the ceiling cobwebs instead. Perhaps to sit on our throne and scan our toilet-roll kingdom or to stand in our shower and pretend the hot waters to be that of Osaka's natural onsens.

Whatever the case maybe and in such states of mind, we may suddenly feel as though that our friends or peers are ridiculing us as "lazy", or -more painfully so- by our own selves. Laziness feels like a sin against the bustling culture of modernity; it seems to bar us from living successfully or from thinking in any way well of ourselves. 

But to consider the matter from another perspective, it might be that at times the real threat to our happiness & self-development lies not in our failure to be busy, but in our inability to be 'lazy' enough.

Like a praying mantis waiting stealthily but calculating mentally to take aim at it's prey, outwardly idling does not have to mean that we are neglecting to be fruitful. It may look to the world as if we are accomplishing nothing, but below the surface, a lot may be going on that’s both important and in its own way very arduous. When we are actively engaged in a task or routine, we are focused on those elements that sit at the very front of our minds. In essence, we are executing plans and actions rather than reflecting on their value and ultimate purpose.

It is in looking inward into ourselves, into the deeper; less accessible parts of our inner lives that can we seek to find the root cause of our problems and arrive at decisions and conclusions that can help guide us towards the most suitable path. Such inner wisdom & answers that we seek within ourselves can only emerge (shyly and tentatively) into the the light when we are brave enough & courageous enough to distance ourselves from immediate demands. Which means: When we give ourselves the space to become objective observers, to look out the window & stare at the clouds and do so-called "nothing" all afternoon while in very fact wrestling with our most profound dilemmas. 

It is as how American professor Joseph Campbell once famously said: "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."

Redefining Work

Hard work, in the traditional sense, has always been defined through manual labour. But such definition is only one-dimensional. We need to distinguish the difference between emotional and physical hard work. Someone who looks extremely active, whose calendar of daily reminders is filled to the brim from morning till night, who is always running to answer messages & meet clients may appear as the opposite of lazy. 

But secretly, there may be a lot of avoidance going on beneath the outward frenzy, for busy people tend to evade a different order of undertaking. They are practically a hive of activity, yet they do not get round to working out their true feelings about their work or themselves. They constantly delay the investigation of their own direction. They are lazy when it comes to understanding particular emotions about a partner or friend. 

They go to every conference, but never to the meeting that discusses what their work truly means to them; they catch up regularly with colleagues but never consider what the deeper value of money might be. Their busy-ness is in fact a subtle but powerful form of distraction. 

Generally speaking, our minds are a great deal readier to problem solve than to seek insights inwardly. Looking through our mind's eye can sometimes be uncomfortable to say the least as we allow ourselves to be bombarded by life's bigger questions such as: What am I really trying to do? What do I actually enjoy and who am I trying to please? What is it that fulfills me & gives me meaning? What can I learn from all this? What will I regret in a decade's time? etc. 

With such deep & unique; yet unanswerable questions, it's no stretch of the imagination to see that the easier bit can be the running around, never pausing to ask why busy-bee default setting. It helps to act as a form of buffer to ensure that there isn't a moment to have doubts or to feel sad or any other thought or emotion that makes one questions one's existence & life choice's that would otherwise throw them off their controllable & comfortable routine. As such, business can mask a vicious form of laziness.

"Don't confuse having a career with having a life."     -Hillary Clinton

Internal Perseverance

Our lives would be a lot more balanced if we learnt to rethink what we value by pulling it away from those with a full diary and towards those wise enough to allow for some afternoons of reflection. We must champion the belief that there is not only courage & valor in traveling around the world and partaking in exhibitions or events, but that there is also courage in daring to sit at home with one's thoughts for a while, risking encounters with certain anxiety-inducing or thought-provoking; but also necessary ideas of the mind.

If we allow ourselves to put aside the unconscious habit of busy-ness for a moment, the opportunity for independent inquiry would pave the way for us to open more doors and possibilities than we could ever realized, as we might come to the realisation that our relationship with someone has reached a crossroads, that our work no longer gives us any meaning or that we actually feel furious with a family member who is subtly exploiting our generosity.

Thus, the heroic hard worker whom we all aspire to be is not necessarily the one sipping coffee away while simultaneously typing on three devices at the café, it might be the person gazing outside the window or people watching from the balcony, perhaps foreseeing a vision or idea so great that even his own sight could not see it.

Ultimately, the point of "doing nothing" is to clean up our inner lives. So much happens to us every day, (be it the excitements, regrets, laughter, anger, melancholy, etc) that we often end up unaware of the simmering energy pent up within us by the time our heads hit the pillow at the end of the day. We should at least spend an hour a day; regardless of time, processing events; for this opens the doorway to living consciously. 

Although most of us would manage only a few minutes at best, we should not feel guilty or bad as rewiring our brain to think differently takes effort & time. However, you could say that our modern society is to be blamed for this, as it tries to "protect us" from our responsibility to ourselves through their cult of activity. We are granted every excuse not to undertake the truly difficult labour of leading a more conscious, more searching and more intensely felt lives. 

So the next time you feel extremely lazy or sense that it's going to be a "slow day", we should imagine that perhaps a deep part of us is preparing to bloom into something magnificent. Like a flower that holds unparalleled beauty, there is no point in rushing the process as the right time of season will eventually come & only then would it bloom on its own accord. So take the time to do the hard work that needs to be done internally, risk being accused of being lazy; knowing in faith that it will all one day prove its worth, with future projects & businesses that you can be proud of. 

Thanks for reading!

Yours Sincerely,

Satori Café