How I Learnt The Value Of ‘being’ While Staying In A Coorg Resort

Human beings were not made to ‘process’ all the time. We need ‘being’ time as well. A guest at Amanvana, a Coorg Resort, shares a point of view.

Human beings were not made to 'process' all the time. We need 'being' time as well. A guest at Amanvana, a Coorg Resort, shares a point of view.

Cubbon Park

If you speak of Cubbon Park as a possible item on the agenda of a weekday outing or a weekend jaunt, you run the risk of appearing sluggish or romantic. Perhaps, even gay.

hammocks in coorg

Of course you may go to the park to walk the dog or to exercise. But that's where the tryst ends. Ironically, the same people who feel this way also travel three hundred kilometres on the weekend to experience nature and quiet. Now those things are available at Cubbon Park. And it's free.

walks in Coorg

I am not suggesting that families enjoy their weekend getaways in public parks. But if quiet is becoming vital to urban dwellers, why is it so hard to go for a walk in the park and so easy, instead, to browse, watch a movie, hold a house party or meet someone down at the café? Why not go to the park?

Because there is nothing to do at the park.

Stillness Anxiety or SA – a term I've invented – is, to me, the belief that inaction is not on.

facebook in coorgContrary to what adults may like to believe, SA is not a youth affliction. SA seems to be a leveller in today's culture. On one end of the spectrum, it drives the twenty-two year old to publish his thoughts on Facebook every two hours. At the other end, it drives the thirty-five year old female executive to unconsciously recreate the office culture of productivity in her home by constantly 'getting things done.'

So following someone on Twitter is cool, maybe even important. But a walk is iffy because it doesn't engage your creativity or lead to anything. Similarly, baking a cake is a meaningful act and much smarter than sinking into a bean bag for an hour.

It appears as though the idea of being has been successfully supplanted by eternal processing.

Processing means you accomplish something individually. Or increase your affiliation with your community and in turn, your community's affiliation with you. At its most basic level, processing means you keep yourself occupied.

On the other hand, being appears to be goofing off in the garb of self-discovery. But time is money and life is short. So be productive and take weekend breaks, yes?

Cake in coorgYes and no. The pursuit of meaning is vital. But we were not meant to be engaged in processing all the time, even if a good part of that processing involves 'meaningful' activities like reading, talking or cooking.

We need being or idle time. And we don't need it to feel rejuvenated so we can come back and do better processing. We need 'being time' because it allows the hidden design beneath the surface of life to speak to us. That hidden design resides in the subconscious. But in order for us to receive from it, we must slow down. We must stop.

The word 'stop' is anachronistic in a contemporary free market that's juiced up on technology. In a market like that, 'stop' actually entered the marketing lexicon sometime back. Need a break? Kids driving you mad? Welcome to ABC. Unwind. Rejuvenate. You've earned it.

That is not 'stop.' That is the marketplace selling your leisure time back to you. At a premium. But leisure is ours. Being is ours. You can be all the time. And nature can be a great co-conspirator in being, in the art of doing thing.

For starters, go down to the park. If your friends call you a daffodil, go alone. Carry a book if you must. Find a quiet spot and let yourself be. All those who idle are not stagnating. Some are listening to the grass.

The writer, an advertising director, visited Amanvana, a Coorg Resort, last month. Inspired by the peaceful wilderness of the resort, he contributed this write-up for our blog.

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