So here I am in the first week of January wondering what I’m going to write to my loyal readers. I’m not very good at keeping track of dates. I think I’ve been writing this monthly newsletter since 2006, a long time. At the beginning of each year, I wonder if I should keep at it. I’ve decided to continue for at least another year.
My friend Dorit sent me a prompt for reflecting on the past year and looking ahead to the new one. (See below) I thought about the five questions, typed my responses, and then wondered if I should share the questions with you.
The media is full of lists that assure us that we can be better if we only follow the suggestions: 5 tips to increase your income, like magic; 8 tried and true exercises for a buff body in 30 days; find the perfect job using these five strategies; 6 beauty tips for a glamorous face to present on Instagram.
I decided against advising you to make your own lists for the new year. Instead, my prescription is simple. Choose one small thing to stop doing this year. Replace it with doing nothing.
Instead of scrolling your phone while waiting in line at the grocery store or playing a game while eating your lunch, put your phone back in your pocket and just be. Instead of listening to music or a podcast while you take a walk, notice the feel of the ground under your feet, the flutter of a leaf, what is going on in your mind.
Decide on one activity, small or larger to stop doing. Give yourself the opportunity to slow down, take a break, just be with your thoughts, your body, your senses and notice with no judgment. For many people, this is not an easy assignment. It can be hard to stop doing something and then filling the gap with nothing.
Try it, you might grow to like it. From these moments of quiet might eventually arise moments of understanding, inspiration, perhaps even a creative impulse, or not. That is not the point. The point is stillness.
The Five Lists by Suleika Jaouad, Prompt 318 from the Isolation Journals
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