about the project
Lissie, the one who will probably offer you a strawberry at the park 🍓
About The Do Nothing Society
The tl;dr version is that it is a free public space created with hammocks, blankets, books, art supplies, fun things, and lots of snacks & fizzy waters. Anyone and everyone is welcome, you can show up at any time and leave at any time. You are welcome to bring shareables but that is in no way an expectation. If you’re randomly at the park on a day that I’m there I will probably walk up to you and offer you a no-strings-attached strawberry (or oreo or fruit snacks) and invite you to join—you’re under no obligation to hang out :)
About the idea
The Do Nothing Society was created June 2022 by Lissie Rydz in reaction to the ever-growing feeling that humans are being discouraged from existing for free. Public spaces are being swallowed up; anti-loitering laws and hostile architecture influence our spaces; the world is actively being designed for cars, big businesses, the ultra-wealthy—not for you or me.
And productivity/grind/side-hustle culture is instilling in us every day the message that we aren’t valuable worthwhile people without producing something every waking moment. It boils down so many of our human interactions into simply buying and selling. If you aren’t buying something get out! No loitering! Get back to work!
So, what to do? Well, it seems one possible option is to seek refuge in the places that still exist, to claim them as spaces for community—to use them to heal our relationships, restore our spirits, to play, to appreciate eachother.
What spaces still exist in the modern American environment besides public parks, national forests, sidewalks? Let’s use them.
Possible ways to utilize these public spaces:
hammocking
napping
playing games
reading
cloud watching
journaling
petting dogs
talking together
taking a bit of space
silent meditation
yoga
____? What do you want to do? What are your dreams for the world?
“So often activism is based on what we are against, what we don't like, what we don't want. And yet we manifest what we focus on. And so we are manifesting yet ever more of what we don't want, what we don't like, what we want to change. So for me, activism is about a spiritual practice as a way of life. And I realized I didn't climb the tree because I was angry at the corporations and the government; I climbed the tree because when I fell in love with the redwoods, I fell in love with the world. So it is my feeling of 'connection' that drives me, instead of my anger and feelings of being disconnected."
— Julia Butterfly Hill
