Sweet Nothing

It's early in the evening, and I've spent all of my spare time today mostly doing nothing. "Nothing" consists of some quiet meditation, a little reading, eating something here, drinking something there and briefly browsing the web for some inspiration on how to do nothing - which entails visiting minimalist sites. All this, mind you, was only in my spare time. I'm currently living in a lovely, sleepy little town in my part of the world, rehearsing for a light dramatic piece of summer theatre. The cottage I'm living in for five weeks is perfect for one person. When I'm not at the theatre rehearsing for our 2 and a half week run which begins in 3 days, I spend most of my time doing nothing. And I love it.
I haven't listened to the radio, watched t.v. or read a newspaper since I arrived here. I guess that's a holdover from having been in foreign lands for a while before coming here, because I didn't do any of those things then either. The most engagement I have with media and the wired world at large is on my computer, surfing the web a little, writing the occasional little blurb here on my little web, as well as reading and writing emails.
I haven't felt this centred and balanced for a long, long time. Sure, I miss yoga - there are very few classes available to me here, and I'm not disciplined enough to practise on my own - but I'm hearing sounds and seeing sights that haven't been filtered and edited by technological wizardry. I don't really miss music, either, although last night when one of my fellow cast members drove me home, she had the fabulous songstress Adele's latest c.d. playing, and I daresay I had a rocking good listen for 5 minutes or so. But mostly I'm fine just being quiet, alone and still during my down time. But there's one slight problem...
This morning, before going to the theatre, my slow, easy time alone at my temporary home almost made me feel guilty. I felt as if I should be doing something besides being quiet and contemplative. I should have been producing something. I should have been active and engaged in a high speed, high-tech life. I felt so calm and centred, and somehow still managed to feel a residue of guilt for it. After all, couldn't I do everything I'd done, or not done, at least with the radio or stereo on? Maybe I should have caught up on the news. After all, I'm supposed to know what's going on so that I can have an opinion on it. And I must admit a couple of times in the last couple of weeks I've certainly felt out of the loop about certain headline making shenanigans by corrupt media moguls, but a couple of well-placed questions filled in the gaps quite quickly, at least enough to satisfy my waning curiosity in the affairs of the outside, material world.
So I'm okay. I'm presently ignorant of the nitty-gritty details of current events, but I'm okay. I'm sure I'm not harming anyone or anything more than usual, including myself. In fact, I believe I may be treading even more lightly on this beautiful, wondrous earth of ours than I would be if I were engaged in a loud, busy, urban life. During the day I'm being creative and getting paid to do what I love to do. The rest of the time I'm mostly minding my own business and letting the rest just be. So what's wrong with that? I'll tell you what. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Namaste.
- G.P.