do nothing be alone defeat oppressors!!! βπ€ππ΅
doing things for fun and not productivity and for rest and being alone
Growing up as one of four siblings I was rarely ever alone. We also had a full house usually with another family member or friend staying with us. I think I could count on one hand the days I was left at home alone as a kid. When I moved out I moved into a house with five other people, when I left that house I moved in with my partner. I spend most of my day out of the house talking with other humans.
It is a rare moment (actually like this one right now), that I am alone. I donβt think there is a good or a bad or a right or wrong in spending timeΒ with humans or not. But I think there is a skill in being alone. And it is one that I would like to foster. In being with your own thoughts and mind and soul and shutting up to take a moment to listen to you is powerful. Quieting down enough to find the rhythm of you is how we can connect to other people.Β
I also think the things you can accomplish on your own are minimal. But that is the gift of being alone. Is to do nothing. Can rest be the goal of being alone. After the holidays I amΒ feeling like a no-people-policy. I have not had my alone time. I have not had time to tend to me and foster my own nothingness, to listen to me.
Ways I am going to be alone this week//How to do nothing
Taking myself out for a coffee. I do this a lot actually. I donβt bring work. Maybe I'll read a book, maybe I'll write. But mostly I just sit alone. I love it.Β
Sit and drink a prefered warm beverage of your choice and maybe only look at your plants but do nothing else. Just sit.Β
Go on a walk. Maybe donβt bring your podcasts. Maybe its around the block. Maybe it is around Mars.
Doing a nice hobby that isn't productive and means nothing and is just nice. For me, that is practicing my ukulele. I am not good at it but I like it and it is something that is just for me and the only goal is that I shut myself in a different room for 5 minutes or maybe 50.
This is all a strategy of rest for me. To be alone and to do nothing is how I can be a good person. I do this so I can go talk to all the humans I talk to and be very loud and passionate about the things I am loud and passionate about. Which is most things.
ALSO! BEING ALONE IS A FORM OF PROTEST TO PATRIARCHY AND DOING NOTHING IS A RESISTANCE TO CAPITALISM. This is maybe a bigger idea than what I am writing about here and comes with some asterisks like POC should be resting while white people do the work to dismantle racism. But for now, I will leave you with the baby steps of taking yourself out for a coffee or being in a separate room from your partner. Because this is still radical and is how we are able to defeat systems of oppression.Β
Maybe some of this resonates with you. Maybe none of it does. Maybe youβre an alone person that is capitalizing on people time, Iβd love to know how you are trying to be around people. Maybe there is something I can learn to make my people presence more meaningful.Β This is an experiment and if you are not interested in this experiment I encourage you to make your own! Art is for everyone to make and enjoy and share and dislike.
xx
phoebe
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