NIKSEN..the art and usefulness of doing nothing

 

NIKSEN: the art and usefulness of doing nothing

The ‘Dikke van Dale’ dictionary on Netherlands or Dutch  language and dialects, defines ‘niksen’ as ‘ nik-sen (nikste, heeft genikst) = niets uitvoeren, translated literally as doing nothing. Then I should add here that it means doing nothing on purpose.   

The verb ‘niksen’ is also close to the well-known verb ‘luieren’ in the Dutch language, meaning ‘being lazy’.   

 

Van Dale Dictionary of Dutch language from A to Z 

All schoolgoing children used it / as a minimum the pocket version. Every year this dictionary is updated. Language is a living thing!

Plenty of books and stories have been written about ‘those surprising Dutch’
and much of it is exaggerated, or has become less evident or visible, as the
Netherlands society becomes more diversified and influenced by globalism.
Here is though what I have been told is a specific one: ‘niksen’. The
substantive of this verb is ‘niks’ which means ‘nothing’ in Dutch. In fact the
word ‘niks’ could specifically refer to the dialect in the province of Brabant where I was born.

 

Interestingly, the Dutch used to have a reputation of being industrious and hardworking, second in line after the Germans. And I read here and there that our productivity per capita is as high as that of the Germans and certainly much higher than that of the Koreans. Part of this lies in the fact that on average we work less hours than in Korea.
Hence, we have more spare time on our hands, and could allocate this time for example to the leisure business or to hobbies.

‘Niksen’ however is a different concept and has had for me different meanings over time. I heard this word at a very early age, late fifties after World War II when every man and his dog had a job…and those who did not, were branded a ‘niksnut’ or in English a person who was a ‘good for nothing’. My mother disqualified some people in our street as ‘niksnutten’ because they either did not have a regular job as a factory worker, construction worker or employee, but were involved in some shady occupancies, of which there were many right after the end of World War II.  But to play a bit with the words, after the war these
‘niksnutten’ actually did work, otherwise they wouldn’t have had bread on the
table or potatoes in the frying pan.

 

Then, another form of ‘niksen’ I guess popped up as of the late-sixties when the Netherlands already was fully rebuilt and everyone had access to a
state pension scheme or received an allowance if they had not found a job yet
after schooling. We were already considered very well-off as a society, capable to pay for those 10% of the population that did not want to or were not able to
work. My simple analysis therefore is that more income, more security, more
well-being, more freedom and the start of some kind of decadence led quite a
few people asking themselves at an early age ‘why should I participate in the
capitalistic rat race? The state with all its insurances will take care of me’.
One of my friends from university Frans H. finished his Masters after 8 years
and he could not hold a job for more than a few months. I believe he was never
employed during the past 40 years. But as life goes in the Netherlands, he
received some income from the state plus subsidized housing until now, and
presently he is receiving his lifelong state pension, and other benefits like
free public transport travel on train and bus. I would argue that in his case and
there are tens of thousands of them in the Netherlands, he practised a form of
‘niksen’ which reflects not interesting in doing a job at all / period!

Or perhaps better nuanced: not interested in doing a job in which he was not interested.

Is this the equivalent to laziness? I do not think so because my old friend certainly had some interests in which he engaged. But in terms of gainful employment I believe he became close to my mother’s view on ‘niksen’.

Now I have come to believe that the real art and probably the usefulness of
‘niksen’ lies in planning to do nothing because you want to recuperate, or most
importantly to de-stress, to switch off, to chill. I very often, and on purpose, can
for more than thirty minutes literally watch the world go by in 100% idleness.
I have two good friends. One of them is Cor H. and he is always busy with
his many hobbies and he does lead a regular life. The older he gets the more I
sense he develops with his wife the same activities they do together during
certain days of the week; even at certain hours of specific days. Even the
evening menus look alike every week and dinner time is every day except the
weekend at 18.30 hours on the dot. This is admirable but because of his
business and his trying to get his daily ‘to do list’ done he is not able to practice
‘niksen’. Fair enough I guess because indeed he has no interest in it.
Then my other good friend Gerard M. who now lives in Overijse, Belgium,
has a limited number of activities but one of them is to rest and recuperate, and
that is part of his daily tasks. He masters in my view the real technique of
‘niksen’: he plans it on a daily basis. As a pre-pensioner for over 15 years he
practises it in the morning after breakfast in his sunny garden, or after cycling in
the afternoon or just after having a few beers in the pub while his partner does
the cooking. And he swears by this ‘niksen’ because he is convinced that this
life style will get him to a very old age. Both Cor and Gerard lead different lives
altogether and have hinted often to me they will get to a 100 years of age. I
believe regularity and reasonable business is healthy. But also that taking a rest
regularly and put yourself during the day in a sleeping mode, a ‘niksen mode’ is
promoting a long life.

Niksen during the Hunsrueck Steig hike in Germany 2018 with 
Cor, Gerard and Anton

As for Biya and I, we are quite different in terms of taking a rest, taking a
nap, or wanting to finish work, and so on. I have always been a person who can
work pretty hard, to some extent disciplined, but when I feel that the adrenaline
is lacking I automatically try and find a way to excuse myself and basically to
do hardly anything….then I slowly move into my ‘niksen mode’. I started doing
this about 15 years ago when I worked in Geneva. The Swiss must have had an
influence on me as the offices in Geneva close up early; around 5pm every day.
And on Fridays even earlier and around 3pm most employees are packing up for
the weekend. Yes, during my Geneva period, somewhere around 2008 I guess, I
started to do little or no work at all during the evenings; and very little during
the weekends. I spent nine years in a row in the Sahel region (from 1979 to
1987) where a siesta or afternoon rest of about two hours was the norm. I got so
used to it (and thoroughly enjoyed it as well!) that I believe it contributed to me
becoming a good apprentice for the art of ‘niksen’.
My work in the humanitarian and development field required patience and
often hours of waiting. Traveling to obscure places meant automatically waiting
for chauffeur driven 4-wheel drives, buses, trains and planes…with people
rescheduling and postponing appointments. I recall that when I was young I
used this ‘free time’ to write reports, make phone calls and get mails done. Even
during plane rides I worked. Slowly while in my fifties this work attitude
changed for a better one: I tried to rest, to sleep, or simply waited and think
about small stuff, or even better just watch the world go by in idleness.

I guess that age and the experience to manage my available time differently and reduce stress, played a role in my case. But also I learned that my kind of work
required to be highly active for hours if not days on end, the moment I would
arrive at a certain location. Better to be rested then. De facto I learned how to
pre-rest by doing nothing, knowing that once I arrived at a duty station a 60
hours plus hectic workweek was awaiting me.

I recall the bus station in Granada, Spain while waiting for more than one
hour with Biya for the bus to Malaga. While she was writing in her diary, or an
article for a newspaper, and totally concentrated, I happily watched the usual
business of travellers coming and going, families with children loaded with
backpacks and suitcases. Then there were several shuffling older people just
looking around like me; I passed the shops and food carts to see what there was
on sale…basically doing nothing but enjoying myself. In fact I was busy
‘niksen’. Just like the elderly shuffling Spaniards. Traveling can be hectic but I
now know that there is always some waiting involved: ‘relax Anton, take your
seat and close your eyes….you are ok, the bus will go once the driver shows
up…or not. Nothing you can do about that old boy!’
Then again once in the Philippines at an airport on one of the islands: Biya
grabbed her diary and did not look up from it for over half an hour. Always her
own busy bee. I decided to have a look around the airport, just look how many
planes would land from where and depart that day; where the taxi-stand was,
what there was to buy at the rice-shop…basically doing nothing relevant but
enjoying myself lingering on and around.
Now I may have become a professional at ‘niksen’ when I travel. I hardly
ever watch movies anymore in the plane; I rest and let my thoughts wander. The
same in buses and even in taxis these days. Ha-ha. As soon as I start to travel
perhaps my subconscious ego suggests to me that it is time for ‘niksen’. I have
tried over the years to instil quiet periods in Biya’s daily schedules. And indeed
some things are changing. We do pray longer together which is different from
‘niksen’ of course but one of the advantages of prayer is that you turn away from the pressures of this world, you reflect, and relax, And these days Biya often says ‘Anton, let’s take a nap, or even ‘Anton, I think I am going to take a
nap’. In my understanding she increasingly appreciates down time, resting
time…who knows in a few years she will join me at ‘niksen’.

My mother used the Dutch saying ‘idleness is the pillow on which the devil
sleeps’ when she felt I was not studying enough. And I do agree that laziness
connected with doing nothing is not something anyone can be proud of. 

Doing absolute nothing without a purpose is equal to emptiness.
Niksen is different! 

But ‘niksen’ for me always has been a short and temporary state during or after
work or other physical occupations like sports. The knack is to use ‘niksen’ in a
way that it helps you to recuperate and prepare for times when your full
engagement will be required. Therefore I believe that ‘niksen’ is a useful
pastime!

A final example to illustrate the usefulness of ‘niksen’ became evident to me when some ten years ago I worked in Haiti after the horrendous earthquake that left more than 200.000 people dead. Heavy times for me waking up every day except Sunday at 5am. And regularly, after arriving home I sat on
the porch in the evening before dinner, closed my eyes and my mind drifted off,
creating emptiness very slowly. In the beginning still full of the workload that I
had dealt with during the day…then gradually the chaos in my mind was
processed and some clarity arrived. Quite often the next morning I woke up and
got the answers to the questions and challenges from the previous day. I told
myself again and again ‘Anton, you see, and perhaps believe: ‘niksen’ can be
very effective’!
To be honest I believe that some cultures are better at it than we in the
Netherlands, and I am certain these cultures have interesting words for this as
well. And please get me right here: ‘niksen’ may be a Dutch word but it is not
generally practiced. People know what the word means and practice it more
when one gets older. But saying that the Dutch are the world leading
professionals in ‘niksen’ is simply not correct. Just go to Greece and Turkey any
time of the year and you see hundreds of people in front of a cup of coffee for
hours staring at the see watching the ships sailing by, or the waves coming in;
obviously these are busy with ‘niksen’. ‘Niksen-aficionados’…especially living
around the Mediterranean see?

On the other hand, the art of ‘niksen’ and its usefulness remains in the grey
literature area of not proven as yet by academics. But for those like me who feel
good after a dosis of ‘niksen’ that is obviously not relevant. I imagine that
‘niksen’ will be far from becoming acceptable in Korea soon, with the current
achievement dominated work ethic and its always quick ‘pale-pale’ culture.
Seeing people in the capital Seoul not doing anything can easily be interpreted as idleness, laziness or at best as not working, or being out of a job; the latter an indicator of failure I have heard from my wife.

Perhaps in a few years when some convincing management-guru is able to argue that ‘niksen’ can be a healthy and life prolonging activity for those Koreans that are willing to listen seriously. And for that growing cohort of now middle aged hardworking Koreans that realizes that they need to adjust their work rhythm sooner or later, before the ghost with the hammer can change their lives into suffering from a burn-out, depression, or in extremis from simply wanting to walk away from it all.

 

 

 

PS. Originally this article was suggested as a chapter in our book ‘I finally found someone to walk with’ (Biya Han and Anton van Zutphen, only available at Amazon)