It's the beginning of the week, so let's don our practical hats and get to business by…
Doing nothing, Giles? Isn't that the thing? Letting go of expectations and the illusion of control and just going with the infinitely creative flow of life?
Well, yes… and no.
Yes, because:
It's all our effort-ing, our dancing-to-the-tune of the mind, our trying to change things and mould things and control things that tends to get in the way of us:
- being ourselves
- doing our best work
- being in harmony with life's energy (which includes ‘others’, naturally).
So there's that.
But/and…
No, because:
It's really easy to just read these Daily Reminders, nod sagely as the words resonate with your existing belief system, and then carry on innocently effort-ing and ‘managing’ your little neck of the universal woods; consequently seeing little, if anything ever actually change.
🤷🏻♂️
My ears pricked up with a comment one of you left on a Daily Reminder, the other day. I'd been relating the tale of how, when I was completely bed-bound with illness, I used it as an opportunity to get some distance from the notion of self:
“I zoomed out a bit. Took the view of the non-judgemental observer of the nausea. And then out a bit more, taking the view of the observer of the observer. (Feeling like you’re at death’s door is the perfect opportunity to try this stuff! 😆)”
And someone commented:
“…it made me think how easy it is (for me) to stay in an intellectual understanding and not shift into simply experiencing life. I'm not turning it into a thing to do but it did wake me up … if only for a brief moment.”
And I thought, Good – let's turn it into a thing!
It's like the Daily Reminder from a couple of days ago – Just tree. There are two ways to approach reading that one:
- Nod sagely, smile, agree, think about maybe sharing it with someone yourself, because it's a great story, isn't it – it really taps into the human condition? Oh man, I love reading this stuff!
- Actually take a moment to slow right and let the perception of some everyday moment or object just hit your senses, without judgement, for no good reason.
The latter is different. It's new. The mind will think it's pointless and yet you'll get a much bigger return on your investment, because the more you do this with easy, unnecessary stuff, the more you'll find yourself just doing it naturally, when the chips are down.
That's because:
But how's it going to make sense to do, if you don't have any experience of it at all?
🤔
Let's make it memorable
There's a superb little meme going around at the moment that brings this home, visually. Depending on who's posted it, and the angle they're pushing, the accompanying text is different, but it's some variation on a theme of:
“Me, when I remember that simply slowing down allows me to experience the peace and wellbeing I crave.”
Here you go:
“When you realize that going slow is the secret to having a regulated nervous system.” Source: Twitter/X
So today, this week, this lifetime, why not commit to actually relaxing into self-less presence, every now and again.
Instead of just thinking about it.
💟
Giles
p.s. “But Giles, how do you square this with your oft-touted notion of ‘To experience wellbeing, there's nothing to do, only something to see?’”
Well, why not think of it as ‘practicing seeing’? 😉
Related
Giles P Croft
Taking it one logical step further.