Did it take a bit of time?

Although this will be the last installment in this series on Wu wei, (you can get to the beginning HERE), it will probably not be the last time I write about it because there is no such thing as an end with this understanding. One can’t help but see more as you explore.

Like in the Three Principles Understanding, which points to how we create our experiences, Wu wei points to life without struggle and effortless doing, away from what we as a society sadly agree to what is normal and in some ways expected of us. To get anywhere, there must be sacrifice, hard work and great effort with large amounts of energy, leading to higher mental unrest and burn-out in many fields.

That’s what I thought for years. I would create stress as I thought that was a motivator to get something done. Procrastination was a strategy for creating stress. Many unfinished projects ensured I would never run out of things to do. Reflecting on this, it seemed like someone was playing a bit of a bad joke on me until I realized it was all me. What I was looking for was a different experience. Maybe even a different feeling towards all this doing, doing, doing die business.

When I initially explored new ways of doing things and how to be more efficient with my time, I looked at time management strategies.

“How can I be more productive?” I looked at ways of increasing my skill levels.

“How can I feel less overwhelmed?” I looked at ways of decreasing the work. What could I give up, give away or don’t start so I won’t feel overwhelmed all the time?

None of that worked. No matter how much I tried to control the outside world, my inside world never really changed. If it did, it wouldn’t last.

November leading into December and ultimately right up to the 25th, Christmas, I would have several projects, along with many ideas for creating/making gifts. Some of those projects had hard deadlines, such as scheduled facilitations, coaching calls, and courses that required my commitment to show up. Everything requires time, and when you bundle it and look at it as if it were spread across your living room floor, it looks like a lot. One BIG pile of doingness!

Before the Principles and Wu wei, I would look at managing the activities and projects. I intended to have a different experience, so I would manage my inside world rather than managing the world outside. Wu Wei doesn’t say not to do things or how much you can get done; it points to you aligning yourself with the natural order of things or, in the Principles language, “to the speed of life.”

Syd Banks, the Scottish Mystic, would say, “Follow the feeling” or “It’s all in the feeling.”

He said your feelings told you something about the inside world, not the outside world and the circumstances surrounding you. By understanding that simple change of framing the world, I could take advantage of this new insight to produce effortless doing and see how much I could accomplish with less stress and overwhelmness.

It’s a very radical and straightforward idea to use your feelings as a guide, much like a barometer is used to indicate changes in the weather.

When Syd said, “Follow the feeling,” I initially thought it was to follow a certain feeling I liked, as in happiness. If you have ever noticed, that seems impossible, and I noticed that those feelings didn’t last, no matter how much I wanted to stay in them. That was also true for bad feelings.

I realized that rather than “following a feeling,” I became more aware of my feelings and how they changed to help me navigate my chaos. The only way I can describe the experience and how I did it is to say it was all in the feeling and me “getting a feel for it” as I remained in this contact sport called life.

I put this little video together to help explain it.

Getting a Feel for It

That’s the wrap-up.

I hope you found this helpful, and if you did, please drop me a note or comment.

As always, if I can be of any assistance or service to you or your organization, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Big hugs and much love,