Most of us complain about “stress,” but we have a superficial understanding of its sources. Like any complex psychological experience, stress has many sources and causes. One of these is that we are not skilled at being idle, doing nothing. It is as if we have lost our “neutral” gear and have to be moving and doing at all times.
Even when we decide to “take it easy,” we are still doing, doing, doing as we “relax.” We go to a coffee shop, bring our computer, drink our coffee, write emails, look out the windows, fantasize, fret to ourselves, worry, daydream, plan vacations, take phone calls, send emails. And that’s “relaxing.”
In prior blog entries, I discussed ways that 
Why do depression and despair paralyze us? Okay, not “why,” as in, “can I have YET ANOTHER more or less useless scientific explanation of clinical depression?” But rather, what is it about depression in the moment, in this very moment, experientially, that makes it so much better to do nothing, than to do something? And, how can I recognize when my despair is an illusion, versus when it is justified by the facts of my life? And what is to be done about the inaction resulting from despair? Like the subject of the classic drawing “Melancholia” featured here, we are surrounded by wonder and yet often choose to do nothing, wallowing in despair.
