I grew up with the idea that I should always be doing something or accomplishing a task. Life was filled with projects, to do lists, or always working toward a larger goal striving for something better. Recently I have come to decide that merely enjoying the passage of time may be what life is really about. Perhaps all I need to do today is breathe.
Just remember it’s okay if all you did today was breathe.
Meggie Royer — American writer and advocate against domestic violence
When I first read this quote, I felt such relief! It was comforting to know that I am OK if all I do today is survive. Sometimes breathing is all that is possible. This last year and half, during the pandemic, has made that even more clear to me. Survival before the pandemic seemed like a given, the pandemic has shown me that survival is often unpredictable and precarious at best.
Another aspect of this idea (of just breathing) is that we are not our jobs, our clothes, our bank account, or our accomplishments. Self-worth is not about how much we achieve. We are important because we exist . . . we breathe in and out. We survive and we enjoy the moments of being alive.
Also, we look at others as worthy not because of what they achieve or how they look, but simply because they are human beings. Society would like us to separate the worthwhile and the worthless, the important and the unimportant—to define who shouldn’t get to be here, who’s a waste of space, who’s a waste of air, or who shouldn’t get to breathe. That is a warped and broken ideology. Sometimes we buy into those concepts and believe that certain others are less than. We may even begin to believe that about ourselves. Don’t fall into that trap!
An Interesting Response to a Letter by Kurt Vonnegut
The following story is attributed by many to Kurt Vonnegut. But it is actually a response to a tumblr repost of a letter Vonnegut sent to a high school English class in 2006. This response is by user three–rings:
“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of ‘getting to know you’ questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.
“And he went wow. That’s amazing! And I said, ‘Oh no, but I’m not any good at any of them.’
“And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: ‘I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.’
“And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could ‘win’ at them.”
Enjoy Doing
To create art, you do not have to have natural talent or be the best. The joy is in doing and creating something that did not exist before you made it.
To be a musician, you do not have to be validated by performing at Carnegie Hall or selling a million records. The joy is in playing for enjoyment.
To be a writer, you do not have to be published or gain accolades. Write what you enjoy and share it with those around you.
You don’t have to be the best at something to enjoy doing it. You can simply enjoy doing it.
I don’t think your life has to have a purpose, or you a grand ambition; I think it’s okay to just wander through life finding interesting things until you die.
— Amber Sparks @ambernoelle
One of my favorite singer-songwriters is James Taylor and I love his song “Secret O’ Life.”
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time Any fool can do it There ain't nothing to it
Whenever I am in the middle of a bad day or in a depressed mood, I remind myself that it is OK if all I do today is breathe. As I let that realization soak in, I breathe, relax, and let go. There is no pressure to do or be anything. I can simply exist, enjoy the space around me, and fully engage with the passage of time—in whatever way I choose to do that.
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