I don’t know about you, but I am a great “doer.” Give me a list of stuff that needs doing (provided it doesn’t involve power tools) and I’m all in.
But what happens when the list is short or empty and there’s nothing “to do?”
For me, it’s crisis time because I am really challenged at just “being,” even though I know that my “being” time is valuable and rich. Great ideas inevitably spring from the time I invest in just letting go.
When I walk, I have to force myself to leave my phone and headphones home. Otherwise, I fill my head with music, a podcast or an audiobook that distracts my thoughts. When I am successful, I know I will be faced with an onslaught of thoughts that will battle each other’s space in my head.
If I walk long enough, the noise eventually settles and I find peace and emptiness. I can suppress or evade my father’s voice telling me to “do something productive” and find myself breathing, hearing the birds or seeing the flowers.
Without a doubt, this will be an ongoing battle as I transition to my life after work. But I will continue to work my way into being better at just being.
