27 March
Day 12 of
lockdown – the art of boredom
This
weekend is apparently a crucial one when it comes to the spread of the virus,
so Minister Grapperhaus (yes, that’s a name) has implored us to really stay at
home the coming days. “Yes, your weekend may be more boring than other times,”
he said, “but there are other things you can do, like have a good conversation,
read a book, turn on Netflix.” I thought it was interesting that he mentioned
these things in that particular order. He, like me, grew up in the days before
internet, before mobile phones, before Netflix, and television was something
that started at around 6 p.m. and there were only two channels. So, what did we
do to entertain ourselves?
Having a
good conversation was the first thing Grapperhaus mentioned and that’s exactly what
we did. I remember long evenings, sitting around with friends, philosophising
about everything we could think of. We would discuss music and deconstruct a
certain baseline, or comment on the sound quality of somebody’s loudspeakers. I
guess me and my friends were a bunch of pedantic intellectuals, but we sure
knew how to pass the time.
Reading
loads of books was normal. For my final exam – and this part counted for only 10-15%
of my final grade – I had to read 30 books for Dutch, 20 for English, 12 each for
French and German and 6 for History. That’s 80 books in about 20 months, about
one book a week. It did seem a bit much, but not outrageously so.
There has
been one time in my life that I was in true lockdown. When I was around seven, I
was locked in my room up in the attic for three days, only allowed out to use
the bathroom. I was Rapunzel in her tower, but with hair that was too thin and
short and no prince to save me. You might think that I had done something truly
horrific to deserve this, but believe me, it is merely a reflection of the
insane household I grew up in. So, what did I do to not go crazy? I did a lot
of “niksen” (more on which later), I stared out the window, I day-dreamed, but
above all, I read. As long as I had my books (which I hid under my pillow, lest
they might take them away), I had a whole other world to live in. A big book of
fairy tales was my favourite. I have no mementos, toys or trinkets left from
those days, except that very book. The three days went by quicker than I
expected.
The Dutch
concept of “niksen” suddenly came back into vogue when Time Magazine published
an article about it last year. Niksen literally means to do nothing, to be idle or doing something
without any use or purpose. Pottering about. Eve Ekman from Berkeley
University says “the research is strong when it comes to the
benefits of slowing down, from emotional perks (like reducing anxiety) to physical advantages, like curtailing the aging process and strengthening
the body’s ability to fight off the common cold.” If “niksen” can help fight the cold, maybe it
can also help fight off Covid-19! Allow yourself and your children to be bored.
Plenty of studies show that boredom has a wide range of benefits. It sparks our
creativity, makes us more inventive and also more altruistic. These are the characteristics
we would like our kids to develop, aren’t they?
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Of course, there’s always Netflix. But might it not be nice to step away
from consumerism for a change and allow ourselves to just be? So, I wish you
all a pleasant weekend full of “lekker niksen”! The rat-race will resume soon
enough.
