| Most successful blogs have a memorable beginning, a big finish, and not much in between, reminding me of a commencement speech given by humorist Art Buchwald at Georgetown University.He said, “Graduates, we the older generation are leaving you a perfect world, so don’t louse it up.” And then he sat down. Given I have had a lifelong love of listening to my own voice, I propose to fill up the middle part, but you are welcome to skip to the big finish if you’re in a hurry. Today, I’d like to talk about the importance of staring out the window and doing nothing – except maybe chatting to your cat and the occasional inanimate object, or thinking about not doing sit-ups, or wondering what you are going to eat next …and chairs. |
| Henry David Thoreau at Waldon Pond had 3 chairs: one for solitude, two for friendship, and three for society. He was prepared for sitting. Not sitting and doing something. But just sitting – in silence and solitude. Which, most of us are probably getting quite good at, or very tired of, about now. |
| We tend to reproach ourselves or others for staring out the window. We are supposed to be working, on ZOOM calls, or organizing our wine bottles in alphabetical order. In other words, GettingThingsDone. Staring off into space seems the definition of wasted time and purposeless, producing nothing concrete. We tend to equate it with boredom, laziness, and futility. |
| The Dutch call this staring off into space, “niksen”, which closely translates as “nothing-ing”. But niksen means being intentional about doing nothing. You must be idle, just be. Our hyper-busy, striving, work-consumed culture does not generally condone, nor praise or encourage, daydreaming. Practising “nothing-ing” has been shown to enhance imagination and creativity, gain clarity, restore, make us calmer and more productive, and maybe less judgmental when your partner doesn’t vacuum all of the dog hair off the couch. Niksen may sound easy at first glance (it’s not), but I want to make the argument that you can be more successful at it if you are sitting in a great chair. (It’s not really an argument, I just wanted to talk about chairs, and I couldn’t think of another way in.) |
| As far as I’m concerned, there are really are two important decisions in a person’s life: choosing a mate and buying a comfortable chair. If that seems like an overstatement, you just haven’t found the right mate. |
| Writer/diarist May Sarton spent her life writing, presumably in a chair, maintains that any house that does not have at least one comfy chair, is soulless. The Shakers would add to this, given their design dictum is “Do not make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful; do not hesitate to make it beautiful.” |
| When we call a chair beautiful, really what we’re saying is that we like the way of life it is suggesting to us. It has an attitude to which we are attracted to: if it was magically turned into a person, we’d like who it was. |
A good chair should and can, embody a lot in one small package: engineering, beauty, materials, practicality, but most of all, imagination. Nothing pulls at the heartstrings and hamstrings more than a good chair. More than the marriage of form and function, it can rise to the level of art. Some of the most iconic chairs indeed, stand the test of time, but some are not all that comfortable. Which is why one should take this information sitting down. Most famously, the Hans Wegner “Papa Bear” chair is said to be “The Most Comfortable” by a long shot. It is an absolute perfect cradle. Once you sit in it, you may never want to get up. |
Then there is the infamous Le Corbusier “Grand Confort” which was presented in 1929 at the Salon ‘Automne in Paris. It is as beautiful today as it ever was – essentially a throne for regular people. |
My all time favourite is Saarinen’s Womb Chair designed in 1948. It has such a sense of sanctuary, security and glamour. Light and luxurious. On my Christmas list since 1948.
Arne Jacobsen’s ‘Egg” chair (1958), another fav, is a cosy cocoon of privacy, said to be inspired by Saarinen’s “Womb chair”.
The Eames “LCW” (Lounge Chair Wood) is the iPhone of design. The chair world was never the same after Ray and Charles Eames put this on the market. Iconic – sexy, stylish and comfortable. If there was if there were a “Tolkien-esque “one chair to rule them all,” it would be the Eames Lounger – a cross between a baseball mitt and a bed.
And the Repos chair developed by Vitra and Antonio Citterio (2011). It is supreme swivelling, helping you with the harsh demands of gravity for your morning latte and not pondering life’s intricacies.
I would be remiss if I did not include IKEAS’s best selling iconic Poäng Chair, celebrating its 40th birthday this year. If anyone has not bought, seen, sat in, or passed on one of these chairs, they have been living under a rock, because over 1.5 million are sold annually. It even has its very own emoticon. |
So in conclusion, to live your best life, nik regularly without intention – and in a good chair.
The End.
This is really fun Karyn. I love, love, love the chair in my house; it’s the centre of everything and to heck with a tiny house, I could live in my chair.
Thank you for capturing my feelings so well!
MW