The Art Of Passivity.

This week’s topic actually has an ironic twist to it, which is brilliant because I finally got to use the word "irony" (or its variations) in a blog.

So! Passivity is the action of well... doing nothing at all, so it isn't really an action, more of a state of being. I say this week’s blog is ironic for one reason (I would love to say 2 reasons, but there is only really one) You see, today I nearly didn’t write an article because I was tired, a bit ill and in all fairness wasn’t doing anything productive, so one may say I wasn’t doing anything. So I was being passive, and then I realised that you can think about so much, realise so much and achieve a brilliant mind set by just sitting there.

Ok, I here some of you saying, “Joe, you handsomely witty fiend, you have a computer how can you be sat there doing nothing with the entire internet in front of you.” Well I recently thought it would be a good idea to move to my large, hot, blue bedroom to my sister’s old slightly smaller, cold and red bedroom. I know it sounds like a down grade but it; is closer to the kitchen, means I get my own bath/shower and is further away from the end of the house where the parents live, and so when I come home at night I don’t need to wake them. It also means I get to re-realise how much of a bastard my bed is to put back together and take apart is, oh and there is painting to be done which means music, a stereo and a paint roller, and yet another question of my sexuality (I’m up to 9 confirmed inquisitions)

So, where was I? Anyway we are about halfway through the moving process, and as previously stated I have moved the bed, drawers and a desk into the room, along with most my clothes and the most important belongings. But my computer still remains in my old room.

This means that I have been detached from the PC for a while, it’s been good for me, it means that I have rediscovered old joys, like reading not because I am on a train or bus, but because I’m bored. Earlier I was listening to the second series of “Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better” and just lying on my bed, it was the most peaceful (if you excuse Tom Basden’s lovely singing) I’ve had in quite a while.

So this got me thinking, when was the last time you sat down, or lay down and did nothing, just stared and thought? For me, it is the few times I forget my MP3 when I go to college and just sit on the bus and stare out the window, it’s really very thought provoking and can lead to some amazing observations and insane cognitions.
And I know in today’s society everyone has to be doing something or else they just feel like they’re “wasting time” similar to when people walk into a high class expensive shop and go “Oh I feel like I’m spending money just by standing here” and you cant help but think to yourself... Yes mother, you’re at the till. So instead of just sitting there spending time, or wasting money, get a nice relaxing album, I propose Jack Johnson (if it helped me fail my GCSE French Oral it can help you relax.) or a book that isn’t going to make you ponder the meaning of life, like maybe pick up a harry potter that you’ve already read or the bible. At this point I would discourage any autobiographies written by sports figures, since we are trying to relax the brain not destroy it with dull-ness, the same reason I would not advise reading this blog for this exercise.

And I’m pretty sure that this sort of “stationary progression” is more useful than busy bodies would have us believe. This spark of inspiration, and ultimately what lead to me actually keeping a weekly deadline, came about from me doing nothing. This small little thing came about from me not using the internet for a couple of hours when I could have easily abandoned my lovely new room and ventured into the new “store room” and played mindless games for 120 minutes. Now think back to Edison, or Da Vinci, I’m pretty sure they didn’t have the internet back in “their days” so therefore we have to assume, and assume correctly that the reason they were such brilliant people was because they sat around and did nothing all day.

Joe Strange

It is proven that evil masterminds such as Hitler and Jack the Ripper also had no internet, therefore sat around and did nothing, so it works for brilliant geniuses and evil masterminds, laziness is a 2 way street after all.