Less Can Really Be More
It's a bit of a trite old saying, Less is more, but as you mature and move through different eras of your art and life, you may come to a place where that really rings true. I know I have.
And it's only recently that I have come to that conclusion. I'd love to be able to live to be 150, merely because I have so many ideas in my head that I would need that much time to do them, and to do all the new ones I would come up with. Recently I've been running around frantically working on this, working on that, and planning the next thing. I found that as much as I love what I'm doing, I wasn't having much fun. Part of that comes down to living in the future and not the present moment, enjoying what I'm doing as I do it. The other part is just having too many ideas for things and not effectively picking out the most important ones to do.
Managing My Ideas
It's so easy to get caught up in the idea of always doing. The whole of Western society is built upon that: work and accomplish your goals, set new goals, then work even harder. It's no wonder people drop dead at an early age with worn out bodies, and worn out minds. Our society worships this idea that there's never enough success. I read some business blogs, and most of them are all about achieving the next level of success.
But what if you don't want that next level? What if you are happy where you are, have enough money, have a stable lifestyle, and aren't interested in working harder just to achieve more?
I had an epiphany of sorts last week, perhaps brought about by my father's funeral, and seeing a great example of the impermanence of all things. I realized that I only have so many years left on this plane of existence and I don't want to waste it, but I also don't want to fill my time and my life up to the brink working, working, working. So I've decided to let go of a lot of things in order to concentrate fully on a select few.
Goodbye book ideas I may not have time to write.
Goodbye side business idea, that while nice, would take up too much time.
Goodbye teaching weekly students like I've done for over 20 years.
Goodbye to all those ideas that there just isn't time for.
But hello to what I am doing right now.
Hello to being fully committed and present with it.
Hello to feeling the joy and the reason that I do this.
Hello to doing things that others enjoy that I do.
By doing less, I can be more fully immersed in what I do do.
This is my art.
This is my spiritual practice.
~ MB
And it's only recently that I have come to that conclusion. I'd love to be able to live to be 150, merely because I have so many ideas in my head that I would need that much time to do them, and to do all the new ones I would come up with. Recently I've been running around frantically working on this, working on that, and planning the next thing. I found that as much as I love what I'm doing, I wasn't having much fun. Part of that comes down to living in the future and not the present moment, enjoying what I'm doing as I do it. The other part is just having too many ideas for things and not effectively picking out the most important ones to do.
Managing My Ideas
It's so easy to get caught up in the idea of always doing. The whole of Western society is built upon that: work and accomplish your goals, set new goals, then work even harder. It's no wonder people drop dead at an early age with worn out bodies, and worn out minds. Our society worships this idea that there's never enough success. I read some business blogs, and most of them are all about achieving the next level of success.
But what if you don't want that next level? What if you are happy where you are, have enough money, have a stable lifestyle, and aren't interested in working harder just to achieve more?
I had an epiphany of sorts last week, perhaps brought about by my father's funeral, and seeing a great example of the impermanence of all things. I realized that I only have so many years left on this plane of existence and I don't want to waste it, but I also don't want to fill my time and my life up to the brink working, working, working. So I've decided to let go of a lot of things in order to concentrate fully on a select few.
Goodbye book ideas I may not have time to write.
Goodbye side business idea, that while nice, would take up too much time.
Goodbye teaching weekly students like I've done for over 20 years.
Goodbye to all those ideas that there just isn't time for.
But hello to what I am doing right now.
Hello to being fully committed and present with it.
Hello to feeling the joy and the reason that I do this.
Hello to doing things that others enjoy that I do.
By doing less, I can be more fully immersed in what I do do.
This is my art.
This is my spiritual practice.
~ MB
The true artist is a man who believes absolutely in himself,
because he is absolutely himself. ~ Oscar Wilde
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