Experiment, experiment, experiment
with everything, for no reason
Hi there!
I’m currently in a cafe in Cusco, catching up on emails and writing after three weeks off grid up on the land, ten days in Mexico teaching during Day of the Dead, and now two weeks with a group of 57 pilgrims in Peru. #blessed
Each month I’ll share a repost of one of my favorite Substack articles; this month is Brian Klaas’s writing about a man who decided to completely randomize his life. It is fascinating, and what we call a “not-doing” in Toltec teachings.
A not-doing is an action to break old agreements and patterns. Two of the main qualities of a not-doing are:
1. The action must have no reward or purpose
2. The action must be done with full presence, with no attachment to the outcome.
Our logical brains hate not-doings because they are fundamentally illogical. Which is why they are so powerful. Not-doings help us to let go of attachment, break up stagnation, and help us to be more flexible.
Examples of tiny not-doings:
Eat or brush your teeth with the opposite hand
Wear clothing in public you would never wear without explaining why
Do a spontaneous act of service that is invisible
Dig a large hole or pile up a bunch of rocks. Then fill in the hole or put the rocks back where you got them from.
Makes no sense, right? And that is the point: can you show up fully, for no reason but to show up fully? Can you break a habit that is so ingrained you don’t even realize it is a habit?
The result? More spaciousness. More choice. More play. More adventure. More exploration of new ways to be in the world. More flexibility in your thinking and acting.
This week pick one not-doing to practice.
And read this great article about how a very logical person completely randomized their life.
Blessings! Next week I’ll share Part 2 of Building at the Cross Roads of Mordor and Narnia. (Click the article title to read it if you haven’t yet!)
Massive YES