The Joy of Pottering

I don’t know anything about pottery but I know a lot about pottering and I know it is one of the most satisfying, joyful and productive things we can do. Yet, for many of us it is a luxury that we only get to do once in a while.

So......I am here advocating for more Pottering!

Are you with me?

You find yourself with an unexpected afternoon alone and you have nothing in particular that needs to be done. You have 4 hours of time and space in which to do (or not do) whatever you want. You make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and sit down on the sofa with a satisfied sigh and think to yourself “what will I do now?” Something catches your eye – a bookshelf that is piled high and higglety pigglety, a drawer that is overflowing with “stuff”, swatches of fabric or paint samples for the room you are thinking of decorating, a pile of clothes on the stairs, a magazine open at a page with a new recipe you would like to try. Next thing you know you are drawn towards it and are happily begin sorting, tidying, designing, baking or whatever.  As you finish that activity you find yourself moving towards something else that has popped into your awareness and before you know it, the 4 hours have passed and you realise you are feeling happier, satisfied, more relaxed than before AND you have also done a whole bunch of stuff!

The pottering is “doing” without anything really needing to be “done”. It is engaging in activity in a relaxed, unhurried and pleasant manner (according to Oxford Dictionary). The joy comes from the sense of achievement WITHOUT the usual pressure of deadlines or other people’s expectations. It is not planned, it happens organically, you seem to find yourself drawn towards things without thinking too much about them. And it feels REALLY GOOD!

• The sense of achievement releases dopamine into our system which gives us a boost and satisfies the part of us that really likes to see an output from our efforts.  
• Because we are doing it in a relaxed way our stress levels are low and we are not at the mercy of spikes of adrenaline or cortisol the way we might be in the midst of a busy, scheduled day.
• We are using our brain and often engaging it in a more creative and relaxed way which means we feel focused but also able to let the mind wander.
• And we are doing it on our own and so there is no comparison, judgement, expectations or concessions being made. It’s just you and the task.

We are guided by how we feel not what we think and we are very much in the moment and asking “what now?” rather than “what next?”. In fact, sometimes we’re not even asking what now, we are simply following the energy of what we’re drawn to in that moment.

There are 4 things pottering offers you (and these are the reasons to do it more often):

1. Freedom
2. A change of pace
3. A sense of achievement
4. Surprise and delight

You are not at the mercy of someone else’s timescales or demands, you get to choose in each moment what to do or not do. There is no right way to potter and so you can’t get it wrong! You are completely free to do it how you want.

By its very nature, pottering is unhurried and therefore slower than how we are in our lives generally. Most of us operate in the higher gears as we try to keep up with the pace of life (and those around us) until we have to disengage into neutral through sheer exhaustion at the end of the day or week. Pottering is like a gentle Sunday morning drive in the countryside rather than a Formula 1 race around Silverstone!

When we look back on a period of pottering we get an immediate reward. The tidying, the sorting, the creating, the experimenting all give us something tangible we can see, feel, taste or touch and that plays to the part of us that likes to feel we are not wasting time.  

This is the one I love the most! Unlike most things we do in life, when we start to potter we have no idea where we will end up. We don’t know where our pottering might take us or what we will achieve as a result. Most of us live our lives like we need to control as much as we can and as a result we miss out on the surprises that life can offer us. The joy of pottering is that we have no plan and we are not in control, we are allowing ourselves to be guided by the moment.

Pottering can be a joy for people who like getting things done and find the idea of doing nothing excruciating and it can be equally joyful for people who like to go with the flow.  

So, I am advocating for more pottering. I encourage you to see the value in it and give it the priority it deserves in your life. It is not indulgent, it is not a luxury to experience once in a blue moon and when everything else is done, it is something that reconnects you with what it means to be a human being.

Are you in?