Nothing, Or Something
Two otters were hanging out at the edge of the river bank.
The Standing Otter turned to the Seated Otter and asked:
“So what do you want to do today?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“I could do nothing for a little while but after that shouldn’t we do something?” the Standing Otter proposed.
The Seated Otter thought about this for a moment…
“But doing nothing is doing something,” the Seated Otter replied.
“No, it’s not! You always say that!”
“Well, you always ask.”
“Explain. Explain right now how doing nothing is doing something. The words don’t fit.” The Standing Otter insisted, exasperated.
“Well, you know how sometimes you’re sitting around and you want to do something but you don’t know what that something is?” Began the Seated Otter.
“Yeah.”
“You just know there has to be something for you to do?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“Because, how is it possible that in this whole big world, with all the things you haven’t done, somehow you find yourself here with nothing to do when all you really want to do is something?”
“Yes! Yes! I have that feeling all the time,” exclaimed the Standing Otter, “Usually when I’m bored. I always wonder, why am I bored?”
“Oh, I never have that feeling,” confessed the Seated Otter.
“What feeling?”
“I never wonder why am I bored. What’s the point? Just be bored. It’s great,” continued the Seated Otter, “Being bored means you’re free. No obligations, nowhere to go, nothing to do. Soak in the sun. What’s there to wonder?”
“But then how do you get things done, if you love being bored and are always doing nothing?”
“Being bored is the goal. Doing nothing is the practice.”
“So that’s how doing nothing is doing something?”
“Yup.”
“Huh…”
The Standing Otter stood in disbelief taking this all in.
“This sounds like a scam.”
“It is.”
“It is?”
“Sure. Why not?”
The Standing Otter had had just about enough of this by now.
“Okay well if you're going to sit here doing scams and doing nothing and being bored I’m going to go find someone else to play with. Good riddance,” said the Standing Otter as he huffed off.
And just like that, the Standing Otter headed out to find something else to do today. While the Seated Otter took a moment to clear the rest of his schedule and begin the very difficult but very rewarding work of achieving boredom.
