The Lost Art of Doing Nothing

We were sitting around the other day watching TV on the couch when I saw the movie Eat Pray Love on Netflix. I hadn’t seen it probably since it came out, but I remembered how it was a cozy, comforting sort of movie, so I pressed play.

It was exactly how I remembered it. The food looked delicious. The scenery was beautiful. Julia Roberts was radiant. I loved it all over again. But what I somehow missed the first time I watched it, was this scene in the barber shop between Julia Roberts’ character Elizabeth Gilbert and a character named named Luca Spaghetti.

In the scene, Luca is getting on to her about how American’s don’t know how to sit still and just do nothing. Their exchange, word for word, is below:

Luca Spaghetti : Americans know entertainment, but they don't know pleasure.

Luca Spaghetti : You feel guilty because you're American. You don't know how to enjoy yourself!.

Liz Gilbert : [looking a bit taken aback]  I beg your pardon?

Luca Spaghetti : It's true. Americans know entertainment, but don't know pleasure.

Giovanni : This is Luca Spaghetti, by the way, you know.

Liz Gilbert : Your name is Luca Spaghetti?

Luca Spaghetti : Yes, that's what our family is called. We invented it. I'm serious. Listen to me. You want to know your problem? Americans! You work too hard. You get burned out. Then you come home and spend the whole weekend... in your pajamas in front of the TV.

Liz Gilbert : That's not far off, actually.

Luca Spaghetti : But you don't know pleasure. You have to be told you've earned it. You see a commercial that says, "It's Miller time"... and you say, "That's right. Now I will go to buy a six-pack". And drink the whole thing and wake up the next morning and you feel terrible. But an Italian doesn't need to be told. Ha walks by a sign that says, "You deserve a break today"... and he says, "Yeah, I know. That's why I'm planning on taking a break at noon.”

This got me thinking. I relate to this so much. Very rarely do we ever sit still and do nothing, and when we do, I know I personally almost always feel guilty about it. Why is that? And how do I stop it?

I suppose just being aware of it is the first step, and every time I start to feel like I am not doing enough work or that we should be posting on social media more or whatever, I will make a point to stop myself and remind myself that the body needs physical and mental breaks every now and then, and that doing nothing sometimes is the only thing we should be doing.

Life is constantly a work in progress, isn’t it?