Yours Magazine Australia — January 04, 2018

Meanwhile, Caitlin argues, the menz

have managed to turn doing nothing

much into a meaningful pursuit, and

she offers fishing and golf as perfect

examples. A nice walk in the park

for no good reason or lounging on

a riverbank have been turned into

entire industries – think golf courses,

big boats, TV shows, international

competitions awarding gold trophies.

Maybe Ms Moran is onto something,

although I’m dreading adding how to

learn to do nothing to my ever-growing

list of stuff that needs doing. Not sure

I’ll ever master that and with good reason.

A recent University of Virginia study

found that most people are happier

doing something rather than nothing

and that “relaxing” is entirely overrated.

Most participants in the study hated

doing nothing and a few of them

even administered electric shocks to

themselves to alleviate the boredom!

The difference here, then, is guilt.

And we women have way too much

of it. Lord knows we’ve got enough

self-improvement to be going on with,

so perhaps instead, the fifth wave

of feminism is to embrace our busy,

industrious natures.

So ask me what I’m doing

on my summer holidays and

I’ll give you the entire list

• from tackling the pile
  of “must-read” books
  on my bedside table
  in alphabetical order to
  spending the day
  rearranging the pantry
  or sorting a cupboard
  or two.
  And, like him, as
  summer days drift
  by, I’m not going to
  feel guilty about it.
  Howzat?!
  Follow Wendy
  Harmeron Twitter
  PICTURE: NICK CUBBIN/BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU @wendy_harmer

Relaxing may be over-rated, says WENDY HARMER

Busy doing nothing

W

hat are you going to do on

your summer holidays? It’s

a question we often ask our

female friends and usually

the cheery reply is, “Absolutely nothing!”

But really? Are we fibbing? Are we

gals really so good at doing “nothing”?

Our menfolk seem to be experts at

it, but not many women I know can

happily pull the blinds on a perfectly

lovely, sunny day, plonk on the couch

and watch the skull-crushing tedium

of an Ashes Test match from the first

ball to stumps and not feel even one

teensy, tiny skerrick of guilt.

What’s the blokes’ secret to doing

bugger-all and enjoying it so much?

On any given day, I can come up

with a never-ending list of tasks to

be getting on with – from the biggies,

such as paying the bills to keep the

household from imploding; to the

littlies, like finding all the pairs to my

earrings and arranging them nicely in

a drawer. (The very last thing on the list

would be “Watch five days of cricket”,

just below “Stare at a wall”.)

Meanwhile he’s on the couch, hasn’t

moved for hours, and is looking like

just one more thing to dust. Having

an excellent time. How does he do

it? And why can’t I?

English feminist Caitlin

Moran argues that the

fifth wave of female

empowerment has to be

women learning how to do

nothing... nada... zilch...

zero... zip – and feel

perfectly fine about it.

“Women can’t

just do nothing,”

she writes. “It

makes them

uncomfortable and

twitchy. They feel

a Marge Simpson-

style blast of

worthlessness.”

Next issue in

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