NOTHING TO SAY #3

Nothing is… human

by Gemma Reid

What a luxury it is to have time for Nothing. No agenda, no time pressures, just space to think, to dream, to open yourself up to unanticipated possibilities.

But should it be a luxury?

For me, doing Nothing, is about offering time and space to others. To remind them of the value of Nothing. Of our human need for it, in fact.

As a cultural facilitator, I’m learning that if I simply offer people space and time, and the agency and encouragement to make of it what they will, I can trust that truly wonderful things will emerge. 

There is so little of this kind of space and time in our every-day lives. People are genuinely grateful and excited to have permission to do Nothing. What happens in these nothing-much spaces might appear small and fleeting in the moment, they might just be the kernel of an idea, or the spark of a change. I can’t predict, or control, what they turn into, given a little more time and trust to grow. But I know that everyone is creative, so everyone can make something out of Nothing.

I’m already challenged by how often I have to remind myself that more is not needed. We don’t need to dictate or lead people towards how to do Nothing, or how they should think and feel about Nothing as a result. If people accept our gentle invitations, they will think and dream and create in ways we could never have imagined. And who knows what might happen next?

I know I can trust in Nothing, because this is how human creativity, innovation and change works. 

We live in a world where productivity is given more value than wisdom, growth is more important than the planet. The worth of libraries, museums, art galleries, universities, even public parks, are instrumentalised. They must be able to define and measure their social and economic impact, according to the latest political fashion, to justify public investment. We all know that the arts give us joy, meaning, and a sense of community in our lives. And yet the space for connecting with ourselves and each through art, without having to pay for the privilege, are becoming ever more marginalised.

The truth is, if we keep behaving like machines, a slave to our phones and calendars and email inboxes, we will forget how to exercise our imagination. We will stop being able to create, to innovate, to conceive of great ideas that will change the world. The kind of ideas we really, really need right now. The life of the planet is at stake, after all.

Nothing really matters. Without Nothing we are no longer human.