Being and Doing

In an ideal world we are our Selves. We are the “I am” — accepting without judgement all that we are at that exact point in time. The good, as well as the things we would like to change about ourselves. 

And in an ideal world we express the person we are without reservation. In other words, what we do is a perfect reflection of who we are. And in this way, being and doing are the inner and the outer “I am” at that point in time.

Needless to say that we are not living in an ideal world. We are living in a chaotic world in which we are juggling obligations, friends, family, and social distancing… A world where in many cases our home base — which always was a place of rest and relaxation; a place where we could be ourselves without having to bother about what other people are thinking — has become our work space. A world where face masks hide our smiles, and in which we need to either have our groceries delivered to our doorstep, or exercise extreme care when going to the supermarket.

All in all, we are living in a world that is demanding us to change. Doing the things we have always done in a certain way, is not working for us anymore. Meeting friends and family now requires different settings, or even new, digital ways of getting together.

To be fair, it is not like we haven’t noticed this need for change over the past five or six years or so… Looking back, almost everybody can see where we have received those little pushes to start doing things differently — or even to start doing different things altogether. 

But it seems like we are now at a point where we cannot push this need for changes in our lives away from ourselves any longer. And this brings up a couple of questions…

• What are the things in our lives that we would like to change?
• How do we change them?

Chances are that the changes that will work best for us in the long run, are changes that allow us to express who we truly are to a greater extend. To express the “I am” in any — hopefully creative — way that we feel will bring the most joy and fulfillment into our lives.

And pretty soon we will find that this will create a new space around us. A space that fits our energy, our “being”, and a space that allows us to breathe more easily.

Ultimately, the closer we can bring what we do — how we present ourselves, where we spend our time and energy, and yes, how we are handling our jobs etc. — to “being ourselves”, or the “I am”, the more (breathing) space we are giving ourselves.

And with that is becomes possible for a calm ease of living to return to to our lives…