The present we live in is marked by chaos. Intense warfare, elections, budget cuts – living is stressful. It’s easy to feel like the frayed end of a wire, so what can we do to help ourselves? The answer doesn’t lie in circling endlessly through the same three social-media apps, or throwing ourselves into work. It’s about finding another release, elsewhere. We asked our friends to tell us what they do to continue to keep sane; and writer and author Roisin LanIgan discovered the balm to maintain mental equilibrium was to simply do nothing. Here, she explains why, and how, it helps.
While my work is primarily a form of learning and self-expression, it is also the thing that keeps me sane. The entire process, from inspiration and production to post-production, helps keep me engaged with the things that make me happy. From finding references to figuring out the right clothes, hair and make-up, each step boosts my mood. Whenever I feel uninspired, creating brings a sense of reinvigoration and calm, and with every new image I work on, the world starts to feel right again.
When was the last time you did nothing? No, think about this. Really nothing. Not an annual leave day as mandated by HR for your birthday. Not binge watching New Girl for the fifth time because you’re hung over on a Sunday. Not scrolling mindlessly between the hours of 9am to 1pm because you have a dentist appointment at 2pm or a flight at 4 and you can’t relax properly until that task is completed. When was the last time you decided not to do anything, without apologies? When was the last time you enjoyed the rot?
I suspect it is harder to think of an actual time you did this. We’re not supposed to be lazy. We’re not supposed to do nothing. Women are supposed to be clean girls, girlbosses, ambitious, active, social, productive, wholesome, healthy, beautiful. Men are supposed to be industrious, strong, motivated, alpha, little Steven Bartletts. We are expected to do these things consistently and effortlessly and to not reveal to the world that they take up huge amounts of time and are quite tedious and also tiring.
