A new(-ish) year’s resolution
It’s not new year, but it’s still early enough in the year to allow oneself to create a “new year’s” resolution. And in that vein I have decided on a new new(-ish) year’s resolution:
Do Less.
Do less. Expect less of myself. Halt all halfway projects in my life, and resolve to not pursue them.
Do not take on new projects.
Do not try to finish the old.
Blinker off my internally optimistic lens of opportunity of all life has to offer.
Do less.
We are surrounded by messages to “make the most of this life!” and “YOLO”. “Do more”, “be more”, “take action”, “buy this to achieve that”, now “go here”, and then “go there”…
It is exhausting…
It’s almost as though the recognition and acceptance of the limitedness of ourselves and of our lives is some sort of philosophical failure, a negative way to look at things, when in fact this is an inevitable and unchangeable fact of life.
It is a fact of our humanness.
Do-ing less is not about reduction of oneself, or closing off opportunity, or shutting down ideas. It’s about coming off the treadmill of to-do lists that we invent for ourselves, the stuffing down of the really important stuff by getting excited about the next frivolous activity to take part in, the distraction from what really matters.
Accepting that there are limits in life, that we are limited, that we cannot moment to moment pursue every idea, every excitement, every possibility of all life has to offer is something we all have to come to terms with at some point or other.
And to resist that fundamental aspect of humanness is an unwinnable fight. One that consumes both attention and energy from the life that is here.
Whether it is through the loss of a parent, a friend or an idol, accepting that we are limited in what we can do and achieve and be in life, although sad, is true.
And the sooner we can accept that limitedness of ourselves and our lives, the sooner we can then focus on making the best of it, and live the life that is here.
Do less.
This little line might seem negative on the surface. But actually, when you look at it a little deeper, you can see that what it is really is saying is to “be” more.
It’s about making time to finally sit still. In the quiet. And allow the really important stuff to come to the surface.
And to sit with it for a time.
It’s about be-ing. Here and now.
And as I sit here surrounded by projects I didn’t quite get to finish, and dismantle my sewing table, and store away my “learn-to-sketch” pencils, I feel a profound sense of calm, tranquillity, and presence.
Do less.
“Be” more.