The art of not working - a day of thinking and discussion with Josh Cohen

We are living in a culture that demands constant productivity and purpose, while bombarding us with an unending flow of information and distraction. The art of doing nothing is disappearing. It's little wonder so many of us are burning out!

This workshop, developing some of the ideas in Josh Cohen’s latest book, Not Working: Why We Have to Stop, will begin by exploring this nervously overactive culture and its implications for the way we shape ourselves and conduct our relationships. It will go onto think about its clinical implications for psychotherapy and related disciplines and practices.

We will also take up some ideas about art developed in the book, as a place for preserving space for 'being' against 'doing', before thinking about the value of aimlessness and internal drift. As well as not working, Josh will draw on material from his forthcoming book 'How To Live. What To Do', on the uses of literature for life. How might we cultivate the private, 'non-productive' self in a culture that equates our meaning and worth with our visible activity?

Book here - https://tavistockrelationships.ac.uk/forthcoming-events/1291-art-working