- “Beautifully Balanced” by Deborah South-McEvoy
We’ve all been there. You hear a great motivational speaker or attend an uplifting event or read some inspiring article and a million new ideas swirl around your head and you can’t wait to take some action.
In fact you’re so ready to do it all that you don’t know where to begin and maybe you attempt several things at once or you are overwhelmed with all of the choices and you do nothing at all.
But doing nothing can actually be a good strategy. By not immediately rushing forward, you are allowing all of the stirred up possibilities to sift down to the single most appropriate action.
Several weeks ago I attending a very inspiring week-long workshop all about movement and improvisation. All of the pins were firing in my head during the classes and I was so excited about all of the new ways I was playing and expressing myself creatively. I couldn’t wait to come home and write about it, dance about it, share what I was learning with my friends and clients.
And then I got vertigo. Room spinning, light headed, dizzy dancing vertigo.
And all I could do was sit still and not think at all. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t dance. My head was an empty vacuum and I struggled to express a single coherent thought.
And I realized I had probably shaken up all kinds of things with all of my moving. I had tapped into so new ways for my brain to think and express my thoughts that I had hit overload.
And my body was telling me I needed to stop. Slow down. Be still. And wait.
Once I gave in to the stillness, the vertigo lessened. The pressure was off to take immediate action. I rested. I meditated. I allowed everything to just sift down into my being, trusting that, when the time was right, I’d be ready and able to share what I’d experienced.
There is no shame in doing nothing when it’s what you’re body is needing. In fact, it’s the greatest gift you can give yourself, to listen to what you need and honor yourself with it.
How do you do nothing? Please share your story with me and my readers by clicking on the Comments below.
One way I do nothing is walk, then sit quietly at the Desert Botanical Garden. I always bring a spiral binder, though, and pens in case…Oh, and I do get physically dizzy when something big is happening whether I can articulate it or not. Have just learned to go with it, let it be.
When I’m doing nothing I’m often playing around on the computer, or with quick art sketches or my art journal. the nothing is no expectation, no requirements, just open and let stuff run through.
Awesome post!