WHEN I first noticed the sign outside Belfast City Hall advertising a new day in the calendar I had to pause. There it was in big, cheerful letters: 'Nothing Day', encouraging all of Belfast to stop, take a breath and, quite simply, do nothing.

I couldn’t help but think of my own Zen training and the way it has taught me to embrace moments of nothingness, to find peace in stillness and simplicity. To me, this wasn’t just an ordinary celebration. It was a nod to the often overlooked significance of 'nothing' and how profoundly special it can be. The new made me reflect on our very own Foy Vance’s brilliant album 'The Joy of Nothing', which captures the art of letting go and embracing stillness. The album resonates with the idea that in the absence of activity, something unique and beautiful can emerge, a true joy found not in doing, but in simply being.

Vance’s music is a reminder that silence and stillness are not voids to be filled but spaces where we can reconnect with ourselves. To see our city embodying this philosophy through a new day of celebration felt both uplifting and, in a way, revolutionary.

There’s something both creative and radical about our city designating a day for nothing at all. In a world that endlessly pushes us to produce, achieve and keep busy, Belfast’s decision to honour nothing felt refreshingly counter-cultural. I thought of how Belfast has transformed over recent years, embracing new ways to celebrate life and culture with open-mindedness and humour. This new celebration of nothingness seemed to embody the city’s growing creativity, a city that can now laugh at its own freneticism and take pride in doing the opposite: Slowing down.

But doing nothing is, ironically, not easy. In a world of “do, do, do” we are conditioned to feel that stillness is unproductive, even wasteful. We’re driven by tasks and deadlines, wired to equate busyness with worth. This new day, however, challenges that notion, encouraging people to see the value in what many dismiss as idle time. It’s as if Belfast is inviting us to unburden ourselves, to enjoy the quiet pleasure of just existing without expectation.

To do nothing, to just be, doing nothing, turns out to be quite a radical act of self-care.

For those of us who find solace in meditation or Zen practice, there’s a deep understanding of how difficult and ultimately rewarding it can be to embrace nothingness. It requires practice to quiet the mind, to turn away from the endless stream of tasks and responsibilities and to take comfort in a state of non-doing. To be given a full day to celebrate that idea as a community is rare and truly wonderful.

I look forward to seeing how Nothing Day will evolve. Perhaps we’ll have more of these days in the future, an entire tradition dedicated to stepping back from the noise and taking a collective breath. In a world increasingly aware of the need for mindfulness and wellbeing, Belfast has taken a bold step forward by celebrating the quiet beauty of doing nothing at all.

Here’s hoping it becomes a cherished fixture, a reminder that sometimes the most extraordinary thing we can do is absolutely nothing.