TGIM: A Newsletter About Nothing

Welcome back to Thank God It’s Monday!

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tl;dr This week, TGIM is about nothing. Nothing is a difficult concept for people to sit with because we can’t see, hear, touch, or feel it. Nothing is, in essence, only the opposite of something (tangible). But in a world filled with an over-abundance of some things, I think it’s important for us to sit with the nothingness.
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If you haven’t picked up on it yet, today, TGIM is a newsletter about nothing, a nod to my favorite show, Seinfeld, a show about nothing. The idea occurred to me when I was in a sensory deprivation tank for the first time this week. It’s a small individual tank filled with literal tons of Epsom salt to mimic the Dead Sea. The salt keeps you buoyant, so even those of us who usually tend to sink stay afloat. Over time, the physical sensation of your body starts to dissipate, and you have to wiggle your toes and fingers once in a while to remind yourself that they’re there.
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The tank is also isolated to limit sound compounded by the effect of earplugs you can put in to mitigate any noise. Once you’re in, you can shut the lights, and voila, you’ve created a sensory deprivation environment.

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You float for an hour. 60 complete minutes of no sensory input. That is a stark contrast to our typical reality with sensory input 24/7. It takes a few minutes for your mind to wind down and stop frantically scrambling for your to-do list or the urge to get up and do something. Over the course of the hour, your mind eventually slows down, and your heart rate and breathing follow suit. An hour of nothing. I would definitely recommend the experience!
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So what’s the point of doing nothing when there are so many things to do?
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Intentionally slowing down gives you time to just be. Our lives are so inundated with notifications, news headlines, tasty food, appointments, sights, sounds, tastes, and touches. When there’s an opportunity to simply exist, we look for something to do.

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I see people bring their phones into the sauna all of the time, even though I’m sure that has to be terrible for the phone because they can’t just sit there with their thoughts. We are always tuned in to music or a podcast while working out or commuting. Even while we sit and eat, so many people are multitasking, watching a show, checking their phone, or talking to their loved one and not just enjoying their food. It’s uncomfortable not to have a focus (or really a distraction) for the mind.
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We’re so over-saturated with input that humanity is swinging the opposite way on the pendulum, looking for the peace in extreme solutions that sitting still can provide.

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Hundreds of years ago, humans only ate berries and plants that were harvested and meat that was hunted. Now, we have easy access to food manufactured to be the most appealing in texture, taste, and presentation. People go on all of these insane diets nowadays (avoiding entire food groups, not eating for long periods, extreme calorie reduction) all to try to “be healthier.” But if we just take some time to sit still and quiet the mind, oftentimes we would find that we’re not hungry or we don’t feel fulfilled after eating so much junk. Yet doing these extreme diets is more advertised than doing nothing (extreme).
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Similarly, people look for these aggressive solutions to stop engaging so much on social media. There are specific apps that can lock social media apps to limit access. I had a client that had a separate device that would act as a brick to lock up the phone so he couldn’t use it. The overstimulation is so hard to resist; it requires reinforcements in the pursuit of doing nothing.

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What’s so good about nothing anyway?

Nothing provides a sense of peace we cannot find by engaging with anything. It allows your central nervous system to relax and your breath to slow down. It allows your jaw to unclench and your mind to seek gratitude instead of to-dos.

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This topic comes at an opportune time as this Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the six weeks leading up to Easter. Known as Ash Wednesday, Christians will have ashes of last year’s palms placed on their foreheads for repentance with the guiding words, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
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If that isn’t the best representation of nothingness, then I don’t know what is.

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Lent is supposed to be a time of fasting to honor the ultimate sacrifice. As kids, you start giving something up for the 40 days of Lent, like chocolate or being mean to your siblings. The idea is that you are making a sacrifice in a capacity that is challenging for you. I have another wonderful client who continues to try and refrain from complaining during Lent, a sacrifice we would all probably be wise to make.
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Even if you’re not Christian or religious at all, Lent could represent another opportunity for us to practice nothingness in pursuit of finding more peace and happiness.

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Consider something that is a frequent noise in your life, whether it be snacking, social media, the news, alcohol, shopping, etc. Let’s make a sacrifice together for the next six weeks as a wellness challenge to find nothingness more frequently in our lives. As with anything else, the goal is not to be perfect, but if we mess up, to start again and get a little better each day. Let’s see if we can find more nothingness and, in that, find more peace, joy, and happiness.

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If you found some value in this, please share it with a friend you think would enjoy it! And let me know if you’d like to be added to get TGIM.
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This week, my podcast recommendation is from Science Vs., “The War on Science.”

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With that, let me know what you’re thinking of giving up in the pursuit of finding more nothingness!
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Until next time,

Shannon