Force or Flow
I haven’t written in weeks. The lapse nags at me – along with other important things that aren’t getting done. With my 70th birthday a few months down the road, I’m busier and working more than ever before.
I’ve been experimenting with flow, practicing non-resistance to the flow of a work-heavy life. I’ve been amazed at how much can get done, with little sense of effort – working softer and freer, not harder.
Over-extension interrupted the rhythm. Self-nagging brought flow to a crawl. Forcing, as it inevitably does, generated resistance. Work was hard again.
Deciding to just do it, I sit at the keyboard – consciously releasing the inner nag, softening, opening, inviting the free and joyful flow this practice brings. Just begin, James. Let being slip into doing. Allow an unfolding that forgoes figuring, planning, time press and insistence upon efficiency, profundity and perfection.
I think about the flow of life, the syncopated rhythm of flow and force – periods of inner companionship and cooperation, punctuated by the interior stalemate of pushing and resisting. Sometimes, doing the dance, we are one with the music. Sometimes, it seems, we’re out there with two left feet.
I feel a smile of mercy for all us beings, whose residence in flow is so inconsistent.
For six years now, I’ve been writing and sending forth. The original intent was not to submit my work, but to quote others whose wise voices fueled my soul – thus, the heading “Weekly Wisdoms”. I doubt if, back then, I’d dare call my writing “wisdom”. After the first week or two, my voice elbowed its way to the foreground, and, for quite some time, writing flowed on a near-weekly basis. Not so now.
I need to bow to the reality of life as it is and release myself from the self-imposed pressure of weekly postings. It’s time to honor my natural irregularity – as I honor my commitment to this practice and my enjoyment of sitting at this keyboard with you. I won’t let this go. I intend to let it find its rhythm.
And so, a new heading: Wisdom Writings.
Thank you.
