The Stillness of Embodiment
I have always been someone who gets overstimulated by ideas and thought-provoking conversations. It took me a long time to distinguish being overstimulated from pressure. The pressure to impress, perform, compete.
To disentangle the overwhelming sense of urgency wrapped up in the potential of a project or initiative. “This idea can change the world! We must act now!” kind of energy. I usually kept a calm facade, but internally my experience was as intense as it sounds.
There were a few experiences that forced me to slow down and confront this perception of urgency, but it wasn’t until I burned out - and burned out hard - that I truly began to practice and internalize the balancing power of stillness.
“The way [Tao] never acts yet nothing is left undone.”
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 37, Lao Tzu
The concept here is that we do not need to force anything to accomplish something. Our egoic desires are often the biggest disruptors to peace and accomplishment.
I am not a Taoist, but I find wisdom in the tradition that offers good medicine, especially for a culture that is so engulfed in egoic desires of fame, achievement, competition, and wealth.
A lot happens when we allow ourselves to be still. We are revealed to ourselves. The discomforts, the anxieties, the difficult memories we have been holding under the water once again rise to the surface. The nagging voices shaming you or guilting you for doing or not doing, for saying or not saying, for being or not being, get louder.
And then something else happens. As you ride the waves of stillness, you begin to take notice of your surroundings. You start to get out of your head, where all the chatter is, and into your body, into the present moment. Clarity emerges. You remember who you are beyond the noise.
It’s not that linear or that seamless. It wasn’t for me. But as I stopped trying to escape the feelings of pressure and urgency and all of the conflicting thoughts about who I should or should not be, I came home to myself.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the rat race of modern life. Whether you’re just trying to survive or whether you are trying to remain relevant and competitive in your career. The sense of urgency is ceaseless. Nothing is ever enough.
Remember that stillness is our ally against the trap of manufactured urgency. Stopping to smell the roses, to be present with yourself, to allow the mind chatter to quiet down is much needed medicine. It is okay to go slow, nothing will be left undone.
