Tag: being vs doing

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Working vs singing

Today has mostly been about taking it easy (well, except for doing laundry!) and enjoying the feeling of being completely back to normal physically.

But it’s also been a day for inner work and deep insights from a wise friend.

The key phrases are nothing new; I’ve been trying to work on these things for years.

Peace and contentment. Being vs doing. Balance.

But now these concepts are moving from being given “lip service” to becoming absolutely essential in my life and causing me to take a hard look at my approach to my work.

What an interesting time.

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Thoughts on sitting and being

A violinist friend from my classical music days responded to Saturday’s blog post (in which I describe enjoying some “serious R&R” time) with the following quote:

“We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being. We think that when we are not doing anything, we are wasting our time. But that is not true. Our time is first of all for us to be. To be what? To be alive, to be peaceful, to be joyful, to be loving. And that is what the world needs most.”
— Thich Nhat Nanh

So many of us need to read reminders like this regularly.

In fact, while I was sitting and simply staring off into space that day, I found myself remembering another quote which I love; I heard it many years ago, but have no idea who originally said it): “Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.”

Bottom line is we need to spend more and more of our time remembering that “Spirit is the journey; the body is the bus.” And that we’re human beings not human doings.