A spectacular sunset at Mori Point.
“My perfect day is an empty schedule. I can’t paint what I want if my canvas already has marks on it.”
We used to give points to individuals who ‘did it all’- waking up at 5am to train, running from meeting to meeting, shuffling kids back and forth between baseball practice and piano lessons, logging back on to finish work at 10pm and collapsing into bed past midnight. Returning emails and scheduling meetings and creating google docs for the team and frantically moving from one task to the next without pausing to catch their breath or check in with themselves or their bodies or their breath.
The rules have changed. We now realize a bigger truth. Just because we’re busy doesn’t mean that we’re productive or doing meaningful work.
A common and safe hiding place: being busy.
But without the jam-packed schedule and distractions of pings and notifications, we’re forced to confront everything we’ve been accustomed to ignore. This requires an attentiveness and an awareness to what’s really going on underneath the surface. And most are terrified at the thought of peering underneath that rug and examining the dusty dreams and fears that have accumulated over the years. Most will do anything to avoid spending time with themselves. In solitude.
“In one telling experiment, each of 55 participants was seated alone in a quiet, empty room with nothing to do—except they had access to a button that would deliver an electric shock to their ankle which they had previously described as “unpleasant.” In their 15 minutes of solitude, 67 percent of the men and 25 percent of the women chose to shock themselves instead of simply sitting quietly. Lead author Timothy Wilson, a University of Virginia psychologist, says that with smartphones, tablets and TVs within reach anytime, many of us may not know what to do when we have time to ponder without distraction—but the electric shock results were still surprising. He suggests we could make our downtime—even traffic jams and waiting rooms—more relaxing and interesting by learning how to be alone with our thoughts.”
Points should instead be given to those who create carve out deliberate space for themselves. Who create sacred containers of solitude so they can be still enough to listen to the quiet yet truthful voice inside of them. Points should be given to those that create boundaries that protect their time and energy. Who choose to focus on work that matters, that makes a difference, and that serves other people.
This starts with having a blank canvas. A single idea. And lots of uninterrupted time to drop into flow and create something meaningful.