breathe, pause, live a little

Banker and archaeologist John Lubbock on the value of downtime:

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."

Before we can move forward, we have to make space for what’s ending and sit in the uncertainty that follows. That uncomfortable, in-between space—the neutral zone, the abyss—isn’t a problem to solve. It’s where change and realignment happens.

Sitting in lostness can feel excruciating for ambitious types who are so used to doing. But when you’re lost... See more

As individuals, if we want to be creative, we need to give ourselves space to play and experiment without a set agenda. Amos Tversky famously said that the secret to doing good work is being a little unemployed so you always have hours in the day to waste as you wish. During that wasted time, you’ll likely have your best, most creative ideas.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you weren't focused on being right all the time.

If we set out to ask a question and rush to answer it, we haven't allowed the question to hang suspended over the void, We haven't listened.

Open-endedness creates the space for a response to come. Let's call this space a "pause." The pause is not only the secret of knowing yourself, it is the secret of all healing. Within the pause, the response... See more

“hedgehog cake fails”

Look at nature itself. Trees don't apologise for shedding their leaves. Bears don't feel guilty about hibernating. The moon doesn't try to stay full all month. Yet we've convinced ourselves that constant output, constant consumption, constant "productivity" is the only way forward.

It’s madness.

Nobody performs well when stretched in a half dozen directions