“Ready, Set, Go!”
There can be such an emphasis on reaching that goal, getting that job, starting that family, maximising our time, making that ________________(you fill in the blank, and if you put in a million holla at me when you do!) etcetera etcetera…
Nothing wrong with those things. Definitely some positives to those things. I’m just not sure if we’re always truly Ready, and Set, to Go.
It can be easy to feel rushed into going before it’s time. Before we feel ready. The hopes, expectations, and questions (often from a genuine place of care) of others can make one feel as if you should have already ‘arrived’.
The always ‘on’ sound of society can have us feeling like we too have to be always on the go, at the ready, mobile device in hand.
Again, nothing necessarily wrong with the option of 24-7 connectivity. Living overseas, I am extra thankful for the gift of technology. I’m also thinking of how earlier this year a friend and I decided to set out all our devices on my dining table. It was a combined total of 26 ways to keep the sound ‘on’. – Though to be fair to us, there were a couple external drives, usb and keyboards included.
Which makes me wonder, between the potentially feeling rushed, and the option for always having the sound on, when do we just ‘Be‘?
I watched an interesting TED talk clip recently, How boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas* by Manoush Zomorodi. I reckon it in part speaks to the idea of just ‘being’.
As someone who likes the phrase, “Procrastination is the most creative art form.” I find the concept that boredom could lead to brilliance intriguing. I also found what the neuroscientist said about multi-tasking not actually being the way our brain works, a bit of an eye opener. As I feel like being able to multi-task is something that is heralded as a prize quality. Also an attribute particularly accredited to women.
Linking this back to the question of ‘when do we just ‘Be?’ A couple weeks ago, work was busy, I had a course deadline, meetings or mentoring sessions on almost every day of the week, and was either expecting guests who were staying over, or had just said goodbye to them. I really didn’t have time to ‘Be’, but I had clocked that my tolerance levels were low, Low, LOW. Meaning I needed to make time for a me moment soon.
So I decided that the following day after my morning session, I was going to get some reflexology. I made myself put away the phone – took a couple tries : ) – and went on to doze off in the chair. In my semi-sleep state, I found myself spontaneously smiling. Why? Because with the stilling of my brain, in that moment of sound ‘off’, I got clarity on an idea that I’d been wondering about as a possible next move. I got the name, the potential layout, ideas on how it could be financed etc. And I smiled. I also wrote the outline down on paper at the quickest opportunity afterwards.
If you’re not feeling “Ready, Set, Go!”, it’s okay to just ‘Be’, until you are. As in the pause, in the waiting, in the boredom even, there may be brilliance that is getting set to “Go!”
*How boredom can lead to your most brilliant ideas – full talk