Lessons from Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay”

PORCH SITTING IS A LOST ART! 

STOP and stare at the beauty of God's creation all around you!

DISCLAIMER: This is not the view from my front porch (i-pod photo). It’s Multnomah Falls. But I wish it was the view from my back porch. Wouldn’t that be cool?

In America, we tend to label any activity where it looks like you’re not busy doing something as laziness. We champion the appearance of work as some badge we get to wear that proves we get to still keep collecting a paycheck. I believe the appearance of work and work for the sake of work are the worst kinds of anti-productivity. Perhaps the workplace would be much healthier if we had a results only work environment.

I think the corporate culture of “looking busy” is bunk and it’s this kind of widespread behavior that’s not only reinforced daily but is driving humans into the ground in this hyper-driven society. Think of all the people out there who are working hard to appear to be busy doing things. This seems like a lot of needless energy being expended to me.

Recently I carved out a small twenty-minute window of time from my day and just sat on the front porch and did nothing. It was sublime. It was relaxing. It was cathartic in a healthy and passive way.

It seems like nobody ever slows down anymore or unplugs from their electronic life on their phones and computers (irony of blog posts noted). There’s a great lack of rejuvenating types of activities.

• I’M TRYING TO SLOW DOWN & UNPLUG MORE OFTEN (AS A MATTER OF MENTAL HEALTH)!

Surprisingly, sitting out on my porch the other day doing absolutely nothing but watching cars go by, people walking and the leaves dancing on the trees was one of the most productive activities I’ve done in a long while.

Lately, I’ve just been feeling a great need to have more solitude in order to figure some things out and decompress my mind.

Both solitude and doing nothing at all are two things I’ve been desiring a lot lately. My schedule is usually full from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. so neither of these things happen very often unless I’m intentional.

But what if I miss something important (I think to myself) when I’m unplugged from my phone and the internet? What if I miss the latest piece of big news coming down the Twitter stream? At the end of the day, my answer to myself and this nagging question is, “who really cares”?

• I’M TRYING TO LEARN TO GIVE MYSELF PERMISSION TO DISENGAGE FROM TECHNOLOGY AND THE GRIND!

So here’s a quick note on solitude. It is a precious resource that hardly exists for anyone these days. It’s a wonder we don’t find ourselves falling into  large holes as we try to text & walk from here to there or drive our car off more cliffs as we text & talk while driving.

I don’t do either of these things very often, but I am guilty of doing them every once in a while (don’t get all judgmental and stuff). My point is that we’re hardly ever focused on the “now” and for many people “distraction” is a constant problem.

Everywhere you go people are interacting with their electronic devices and relating to their phones. You think childhood obesity is an epidemic? Why not throw worldwide distraction in the ring for consideration?

People think to themselves “I’m important and I have value & meaning because so-and-so just texted me or just sent an update on FourSquare or somebody Facebooked me.” There’s this desperate urgency to get back to our connections right away or to send notes out constantly reporting every grid coordinate that we stop on.

• I’M TRYING TO BALANCE MY LOVE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY WITH MORE HUMAN INTERACTIONS!

SO WHAT DOES OTIS REDDING HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ALL THIS?

You might not be surprised by this as I’m sure it’s probably true for you, also. I learn a lot from listening to music (all kinds, all eras). Otis Redding–legendary soul singer, song writer and performer–had some wisdom to depart on the topic we’ve been exploring together? It seems that he was alluding to many of his own stresses and worries in his song “The Dock of the Bay.” Give it a listen.

Great tune, by the way, and it was written way before e-mail, mobile phones and the Internet ever existed.

So as I was sitting on my front porch “resting my bones” this song ran through my head and had a very different meaning than it had ever had before. So keeping in mind the things I talked about what can we learn from this song? Otis recorded it only 3 days before he died. Here are the lyrics.

(SITTIN’ ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY
- written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper
- lyrics as recorded by Otis Redding December 7, 1967, just three
days before his death in a plane crash outside Madison, Wisconsin
- #1 for 4 weeks in 1968

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch ‘em roll away again, yeahI’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the ‘Frisco bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for
And look like nothin’s gonna come my way

So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes

Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

Now, I’m just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time (whistle)

Here are some habits I’m going to APPLY after thinking about Otis Redding’s song:

• Take time to sit and observe nature for long periods of time.
• When the stresses, demands and worries of life become too much (daily) take time to be still outside of my office.
• Go for short walks around the block.
• Lay on the grass in my backyard and watch the clouds roll by.
• Sometimes, if my mind wants to wander I should let it. Focus is good but not all the time. Great creativity often happens.
• There is something beautiful about the active pursuit of rest & renewal in God’s creation that can renew the mind. It’s good for the soul.
• I would beg to differ that sitting on my front porch or the dock of the bay is not a “waste of time.”
• Trying to pick 1-2 days to watch TV and leave that wondrous distraction OFF the rest of them. I’m not quite to the get-rid-of-it-completely phase yet, but that’s not a bad idea.
• Using an actual writing utensil and journaling some of my thoughts as I chill out.
• Seeking to not become a slave to cyber space, but instead become its master by using it to reach my goals (like building a healthy and vibrant online community).
• Breathe in and breathe out. Listen to the sounds all around me.
• Marvel at all the life happening in front of me.
• Repeat all of the above as often as I can.

REALITY CHECK: 

The way our world is built today, we’d all be hardpressed to completely disconnect from media and electronic interaction, but we can’t forget to take regular periods of time to be offline.

 The soul of the human needs time to interact with its Creator by being out in nature and we also need lots of time to relate to each other by doing human things (like face-to-face meetings, playing sports or sharing a cup of coffee). Ponder all this as you get close to the weekend.

 What’s the best way you’ve found to unplug from technology or unwind from a stress-filled life?

 Share your best practice with the rest of us. And, as always, thanks for reading….drew

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