Too much of our time is lost struggling with painful feelings that we cannot express. We try to move forward, try to put up a good fight, but there is something malign and pervasive colouring our mood. It drains our energy, saps our motivation, but remains out of sight. It’s uncomfortable, but even more important than that, it’s unclear. Whether fear, worry, sadness or doubt—it is this lack of clarity that keeps us feeling stuck.
This is a simple post about something that you participate in every day. You rarely intervene, and in general, you’re not required to. Even so, 20 to 30 thousand times a day, you breathe. Breathing is unique in that it occurs automatically—even when we’re unconscious—but is also able to come under conscious control. Our breath sits at the intersection of mind, body, blood and brain, unifying them in one living rhythm, and finally binding our bodies into a much greater reciprocity with outside and Other:
I recently read Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work! It’s a short book of excellent advice on getting your creative work out there, and particularly on sharing your ongoing creative process rather than just presenting your final product. Early on Austin talks about the habit of reading obituaries each morning as a gentle way of re-focusing on what’s truly important to you. I have many weird habits as it is so I was happy to add this to the heap.