A To-Be List for Non-Doing
The value is in the being, not in the doing. Or so they say.
Then, why can’t I get paid for doing nothing? In fact, is it even possible to do nothing?
Admittedly, this morning I wasn’t very productive: I awoke to text messages from the man I went out on a date with yesterday. I read and replied. I went to the bathroom and brushed my hair, which remained tangled from our motorbike adventure through the hectic streets of Chennai, India. I made my bed. I fixed myself coffee and a bowl of fruit and yogurt. I fed the cat. I sent a few work-related emails. I replied to a few more texts and petted the cat. I listened to an inspirational YouTube video while stretching. I checked social media. I sang a few songs on my ukulele and thought about the inherent value within our beings.
I didn’t have much to show for it, but I was still racking up the verbs. Staying busy doing not much but still, doing.
Even when I meditate, I’m still sitting there. That’s technically an action — let alone the whirling dervish of thoughts that I am trying to calm inside my brain. I am breathing. I am absolutely not thinking about the handsome smile of that man with the motorbike. I am definitely not thinking about whether I should use the spicy peanut butter I just bought as a sauce over steamed cauliflower for dinner. No way am I listening to the cat, who’s meowing and wanting me to pet her some more. OK, yes, I am. I am doing all of that.
What is this non-doing, then? What does that look like?
In today’s modern world, it feels like an impossible statement. I am always working for a paycheck or working to improve myself. Every day, I use an app to make sure I’m doing all the good habits I strive for: take my vitamins, floss my teeth, study Italian, exercise, eat mindfully, meditate and practice yoga.
As a freelance writer, I work from home or from a nearby café. I am constantly searching for new clients or meeting deadlines to please current clients. I strive for passive income, where I get paid for the gallant efforts of my past. But who am I kidding? Passive income can be even more labor-intensive than straight-forward assignments.
Financially, the value is most certainly in the doing. And that would be important, if money were your end game. Money isn’t the reason I’m here, alive. There’s more to life than money, as far as I’m concerned.
If we reduce our actions, we can actually create space within ourselves for something even more highly valued. We allow ourselves to be in the present moment and look at it without distraction. We are able to hear our inner voice.
This self-understanding can reflect on to the world around us, bringing wealth and abundance on many levels. Personally, as I work to reduce my actions, I find that my creativity increases. I’m able to be inspired. This gained clarity helps me complete tasks quicker, naturally decreasing the time spent doing.
In fact, the less you do, the clearer everything becomes. That’s why monks renunciate and go into the hills for contemplation.
By making a focused effort to calm yourself, you gain control over your emotions and thoughts. Of course, the conundrum is that the “focused effort” is, in fact, a letting-go process. It’s like trying to tightly grasp a handful of sand. The more you squeeze and hang on, the more sand will fall through your fingers.
There’s no way to stop doing things, just as there is no way to stop thoughts from arising when we meditate. But there are some ways to reduce the space that busyness and endless mental conversations fills in our lives. Let’s call it a “To-Be List”:
· Reduce Your Social Pressure: I am constantly traveling solo to countries I’ve never been. Inevitably, there are times when I don’t really know anybody. There’s no social pressure to do anything, really, at all. If I want to sit around and stare into space, I can. For everyone else, the solution is simply to say no to any social interaction that you don’t really want to go to. Save the self-pity and FOMO. If you have a very close group, they may talk or worry about you. Be honest: “I need me time.” This, of course, also applies to consuming social media. Take breaks.
· Fast: I’ll complete both intermittent and extended fasts. Sometimes, I don’t eat for 16 hours, and sometimes I won’t eat for a few weeks. My digestive tract gets a break, and I save hours of my day that would otherwise be filled with eating as well as deciding what to eat, grocery shopping, cooking meals and doing the dishes.
· Keep Overhead Low: The more you have to spend to cover debts of any kind, the more you have to be busy working. If you need to pay off existing debts, be creative with passive income opportunities. You don’t necessarily have to work harder, so long as you also budget your spending carefully.
· Don’t Multi-Task: Humans aren’t computers. Our brains aren’t hard drives that can run a specific number of tasks completed in rapid succession at the same time. Our synapses fire all the time, understanding the world around us. Of course, we need to remember how to apply gas and steer while watching the road in traffic. Some logistical jobs require a lot of multi-tasking. But numerous scientific studies show just how inefficient it really is for most everything else.
· Relax Your Body and Mind: Napping is another thing on my daily to-do list. I try to mindfully practice a relaxed brow, relaxed shoulders and good, relaxed posture. I’m a yoga teacher, and anyone who’s ever taken a class knows it ends with savasana, or corpse pose. It is the pose of non-doing, stillness of body and mind. The more you practice meditation, the easier it is to not have runaway thoughts and simply be.
I am usually a very productive person, which was why my easy-going morning led to introspection. But in the end, it really doesn’t matter what we do. We can earn the most awards, make the most money and do the most things, but that doesn’t really make us any better than a homeless person sleeping on a cardboard box amidst the smell of piss.
It is our spirit, our undefinable and immeasurable sense of being, that matters. And that shiny gem within us all can’t glisten in the sun if we don’t allow it.
