When was the last time you observed an insect in action? Perhaps you have pondered the playfulness of a pet? What about witnessing a wild animal in the woods?

Take a look at any living creature. Butterfly, bee, or bear, dragonfly, cat, or cow, or even just your friendly family dog.

Now watch them as they do whatever it is that they happen to be doing. They’re flying, they’re eating, they’re running around. They’re digging a hole in the yard, they’re shredding your favorite shoe, they’re quietly grazing in the pasture.

Whatever it is that they are doing — that’s it. That’s all they are doing. Nothing more, nothing less, until they move on to the next thing.

Now think about any average human you may happen to know — yourself for example. If you are like me, you do a lot of different things. Physical things, cerebral things, even things bring the gift of leisure.

But I’ll bet your bottom dollar that you have a name for each and every action that your mind and body takes. In fact, you probably have multiple names.

Now what’s going on in your mind while you’re doing these things? In my head, I might be second-guessing myself. I might be wondering if I’m doing the right thing at all. I might be wondering if I’m doing it wrong. Worst of all I might be wondering what other people might think of it!

So we have minds that abstract while our fellow creatures don’t. One might say that this is a double-edged sword to use an old cliché. On one hand, we get civilization and society and culture, on the other hand, unlike our fellow creatures, we find it hard to simply abide.

But it’s OK, we’re only human. We’re not going to stop the dialogue in our head as we go about our day-to-day activities. This is not about that.

What I’d like to distinguish, and gently warn about, is what I would call a second layer of abstraction that we humans are prone to.

You’ve had a difficult conversation with someone recently and wished you would’ve spoke differently. You’ve got an important meeting coming up and you’re not sure what to say. You’re facing a dreaded phone call and you can’t stop workshopping lines in your head.

If any of that stuff is going on in your brain, you are definitely operating on a very different plane than our fellow creatures. In other words, your mind is not on your task. You wind up doing what I’ve called out in my own mind as “rehearsing”.

Generally, with situations like this, it seems like no matter how many times you go over it in your head it comes down to the fact that you are going to have to take an action or make a decision at some point in the future that is not right now.

Which means that dwelling on it while you’re fixing your bicycle or driving in traffic isn’t going to do you any good. If it’s a decision, especially one that involves a sticky conversation with someone else, my colleague Laura Cirolia always says “You have to drive straight into it!“

First, accept the fact that nobody’s perfect. Then address the yucky stuff as cleanly and quickly and consciously as you can muster. When you take yourself out of the present moment and spend time rehearsing instead of simply being with the task at hand, you are neither here nor there and that’s no place to be.

Abstraction has its upsides, don’t get me wrong. Take daydreaming for instance. Musing about the wonderful things you might say to a loved one or coming up with ideas for your next newsletter is an entirely different matter. When your mind is at peace and your body’s in motion all sorts of magic can manifest.

Think about when you are totally in your groove, surfing the flow state of one of your favorite activities. Out of nowhere an inspiration taps you on the shoulder, a shiver runs up your spine and boom! Your creative spirit has come out to play.Dancing and dreaming is our birthright.

You always have some sort of a choice in each and every present moment, so if you find yourself rehearsing, see if you can park that feeling and let your inner animal take the lead. When you’re mindful of your abstractions you can steer them towards your highest good. Now that’s one of the rare gifts we humans can cherish.

Much love till next Monday, have a great week!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #646

Mark Metz
Monday Love Movement Calendar