The Dutch Philosophy of Niksen and What It Means to Truly Rest

To misquote Shakespeare: to do, or not to do, that is the question. 

Perhaps you have something due, but you’ve spent a few hours scrolling on social media or watching a TV show, in a kind of anxious state. Perhaps you scorn yourself for being idle, for resting too much, but this pushes forward another question: what is resting really? We spend a lot of our lives behind screens, distracting ourselves with other things as we put off looming deadlines.

We live in an era of procrastination, an era that tricks us into feeling that these acts of anxiety-induced distraction are equivalent to relaxation. The Dutch philosophy of ‘niksen’, or purposefully doing nothing, would argue that relaxing isn’t just something you do as you wait for something else; it is done with purpose, it is intentional. So, what does it mean to intentionally do nothing?

Niksen in the Age of Anxiety

Niksen is hard to define, even for the experts. For the Dutch, ‘niksen’ is used as a verb, derived from the word niks, meaning nothing. In its simplest form, it means to do nothing, to be idle, with no other objective or meaning than to unwind. It encourages both the relinquishing of control and intentional rest.

Modern society capitalizes on productivity, or moreover, the fear of inactivity, of stalling. Therefore, almost every action we take, even the action of relaxing, has an embedded outcome, unconscious or conscious.

When we walk, we are often trying to burn more calories, reach our fitness goals, and when we read, it is often trying to impress others or appear more intelligent. There is an end to the means, an objective. We rarely do things just for the beauty of doing them, for the pleasure of the nothingness itself.

A cat will lie for hours beneath a sunlit window, a raven will pick up and play with a bottle cap, and a river otter will slide down a muddy embankment. We were never meant to hold this much anxiety, nor do so much. While we live in an age of anxiety, that does not mean we are powerless to be completely consumed by it. 

Why Doing Nothing Boosts Creativity

The dark looming cloud that was the COVID-19 pandemic changed a great many things, including how we approach mental health. Mental suffering had nowhere to hide; it was thrust under the limelight, demanding a solution, or at least the outline of one. This is where the Dutch concept, or philosophy, of niksen came into grand popularity. It gently pushed back against a culture demanding constant reinvention, suggesting that perhaps our leisure time should not be another form of work.

So, how exactly do we ‘niksen’? How do we do something without having an objective at all? Practicing niksen can be as simple as listening to music, sitting, and watching the trees blow in the wind, as long as it is an action done without a specific objective.

This Dutch philosophy encourages your brain to take a pause, without feeling shame for the lack of productivity. 

Sure, achieving a great many things is a feat, and productivity can be good, but it can also inhibit other things. This normalization of being overly busy has been found to limit our creativity and imagination. We don’t often let our minds wander, not in the way they want to, not aimlessly, leisurely. Even our distracted thoughts are often preoccupied with other tasks, other things to tick off our mental ‘to-do’ lists.

Humans are creative creatures, and that creativity is nurtured by moments of relaxation and aimless thought-wandering. We may not be in a society that prioritizes slow living, but we shouldn’t downplay our own power and free will. As free-thinking individuals, we have the ability to sometimes do what we like, even when that means doing nothing at all.

When Life Imitates Art: The Enchanted April

Elizabeth von Arnim’s book, The Enchanted April, beautifully illustrates what splendor can arise from intentional nothingness. Von Arnim writes a tale of four women who travel to an Italian villa for the whole month of April, leaving behind their English lives to embrace slow living under the Italian sun. It is a slow-paced, beautifully written novel, where the women allow themselves time for conversation, nature, and contentment.

While we may not all have access to a month-long stay at an Italian villa, we can certainly apply the philosophy of niksen to truly feel present in our own lives. Intentionally slowing down is not only good for us, but for our relationships, our work, and of course, our stress levels. 

The world we live in, the world we experience, is created and interpreted through our inner lives, our inner thoughts. If we are to live so much inwardly, we should try, at least, to ensure our minds get a little spring-cleaning, a few moments to stretch out their figurative limbs and play in the sun.

Embracing the philosophy of niksen in moments of our own lives could offer an escape from the everyday, alighting our hearts and imagination, and possibly even teach our minds how to finally feel alive.