Dolce Fa Niente – The Art of Doing Nothing
A few weeks ago, I decided to rent Eat, Pray, Love figuring it would be better to watch that, than the Jersey Shore.
In the movie there were two parts that I connected with, one in which Liz, the main character, is in Italy, and she is in a barber shop, this one man is talking about American vs. Italian lifestyle, and he says something along the lines of how we work ourselves to grind stone, and then we come home on the weekends and sit in front of the TV in our pajamas, that we Americans, know about fun, but not about pleasure. I laughed, and said in my mind, “isn’t that the damn truth?” He spoke about how Italians are masters at Dolce Fa Niente, or the art of doing nothing.
A day or two later I was watching Nosi at Doglando, it was the end of the day, and the dogs were out with one of the staff as I was doing inside chores. I couldn’t help but notice how absolutely at ease she was.
She lied there, like a little frog as the last bits of sunlight sank through Doglando’s oak trees onto our back deck. She would cock her head this way and that way, shift her weight a little bit, but mostly she lied there, as though she was day dreaming about the world.
That day I learned the lesson how important it is just to relax, to unwind, and day dream. I know I catch myself getting incredibly tense and worked up with the ever expanding, never ending, OH MY WORD I HAVE TO FINISH THIS TASK RIGHT THIS SECOND list of things to do. It’s important to realize, that life is not made up of these exponentially growing lists, but that life, in and of itself, is made up of those moments relaxing on our back decks, soaking up the last rays of sunshine pouring down in between tree limbs, or hitting the couch through windows.
Life is not the rush we are used to, it is that peaceful serene moment, where we turn off everything and just simply exist, and Nosi has reminded me of this lesson --- Take Time To Relax.
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