The Art of the Pause

How many times a day do you pause?

I mean, intentionally stop what you’re doing to think?

I’ll take a gander and say probably not as often as you’d like.

For many reasons, inactivity and idleness have grown to have negative connotations. We feel nervous or unsettled if every minute of our day isn’t filled with some sort of productive action moving us towards one of our arbitrarily illustrious goals.

One of my favorite articles of all time, “The Busy Trap” by Tim Kreider, talks about why society feels this nagging obligation to be constantly busy:

They’re busy because of their own ambition or drive or anxiety, because they’re addicted to busyness and dread what they might have to face in its absence. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something to promote their work. (The Busy Trap, Tim Kreider) The 'Busy' Trap*If you live in America in the 21st century you've probably had to listen to a lot of people tell you how busy they are…*opinionator.blogs.nytimes.comKreider goes on to say that “the present hysteria is not a necessary or inevitable condition of life; it’s something we’ve chosen, if only by our acquiescence to it.”

So today, I want to share with you one of the ways that I pause and how and what I do in that time. It’s a bit unusual so stay with me.

The art of the pause actually lies more within the art than the pause. And I literally mean art. Artists create scenes and scapes in a variety of mediums all intended to make you pause and explore. Therefore, an artistic pause lets you, the onlooker, relax your mind, focus your senses, and experience the piece.

Art gives us permission to pause. My suggestion to you is that at least once a day, you should pause to experience art. Pick your favorite kind, don’t let me sit here and sway you in any which way. (Obviously, you should choose a great photograph. 😉)

Art has lost much of its limelight in society these days because of that simple fact that we all feel so busy. Who has time to just sit and look at artwork? Museums go unvisited, galleries unexplored, all because society thinks they have no time for art. The exact opposite is true. Art gives us permission to pause. And in that beautifully artistic pause, we find more clarity of thought, more sparks for new ideas, than in any consistently busy aspect of our daily lives.

The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done. (The Busy Trap, Tim Kreider) Here are a few links (here, here, and here) to some of my all-time favorite photography books. But find whichever artform pleases you. I’d recommend, if possible, to engage with these pieces offline so just store your favorite book at your desk and take 5 minutes out of your day—nothing crazy—to just pause.