As I drop into the silence and the space of my body to listen for what my writing prompt is today, I’m reminded yet again how challenging it is for me to truly slow down to a full stop, especially in the middle of the day when the momentum is in full swing.
Growing up, I thrived on being challenged academically, creatively, and physically. I wanted to excel at it all; tennis, ice dancing, painting, ceramics, astronomy, art history, english literature, piano, guitar, astronomy, history, languages, and the list goes on….
Although my childhood was filled with rich innumerable experience of fun, adventure, wonder, and delight, the fact that I started competitive ice dancing by age 7 meant very little time for play and rest relative to my friends.
Doing more and moving faster always felt like the solution to a fuller life of doing better, improving my performance, accomplishing more, becoming more, having more, experiencing more…
So, as an adult, I’m well aware that embracing the power and productivity of doing nothing is a stretch for a nervous system that was well-trained into the gear of overdrive
Perhaps you can relate. To what extent are you compressing as much as possible into your space and schedule, chasing joy and fulfillment and, in the meantime, missing all that IS already here, without leaving any room for the magic, the synchronicity, and ease?
In today’s day and age, we’ve become habituated to being increasingly busy, moving in high speed, and being totally consumed by our focus on the next big accomplishment, on fulfilling our soul’s purpose, on getting ahead, on arriving somewhere other than here, and on having, doing, being more in the hopes of someday, one day, maybe, hopefully…..being “enough”.
And yet the pull towards something different – a way of being that matches the heartbeat and rhythm of our soul far more than our mind – beckons us constantly and feels irresistible….
Because, we know deep in our tissues and bones that the art of doing nothing brings with it rich rewards touches a depth of fulfillment more than anything else that we might achieve or accomplish “out there”.
As challenging as it can feel in our nervous systems that are so conditioned to the go-go-go, no-pain-no-gain mentality, the very gesture and intention of slowing down to neutral and releasing all the over efforting, micromanaging, and heavy lifting and instead trusting the non-doing, the being, and the empty, pregnant, fertile spaciousness is what communicates to the universe that all is well….
That this very moment is enough…
And that we are deeply fulfilled without needing to get anywhere other than here to discover a deep, unwavering contentment…
And that we are actually present, open, and available to receive all that awaits us in the infinite field.
How would a day in the life of YOU look different if you truly believed that doing less and BEING more was the answer to all your questions, desires, and prayers?
And, what’s one small change you can make in this direction today?