Hi all! Today I’m going to write about an interesting insight that I had while I was sick… yeah, been under the weather since last weekend.
Anyway! This is somewhat related to being vs doing again. I had previously written about that before. Still! Not gonna refer to the past articles. Just gonna write now what comes to mind.
Alright, entering the article! Hopefully it’s not too short! Yep.
So basically, when I was sick, well, first of all, my head was perhaps feverish and weak and I had totally no strength to do much even if I wanted to, yeah. But then eventually, I recovered to a point where I mentally felt relatively fit again. Perhaps not tip-top, but already well enough to do some stuff apart from lying down.
But then I found that I couldn’t really bring myself to go work on all the doing stuff at all, such as working on that online course that I’m taking at the moment! Even something like, say, reading a few pages of the Japanese novel or listening to the Japanese podcast which I fairly like, I mean, it didn’t really feel that right to me.
So let me summarise. In a sense, however much I make like doing these activities, because if I didn’t, well, I wouldn’t be committed to them in the first place! But anyway, however much I like!! doing them, in a manner of speaking, they are more of long-term projects that I’m working on, for the sake of some long-term goals that I’d like to reach.
However, what were the sorts of things that I were able to do?
Well! Now those were in a whole different arena altogether!!! Unlike those outcome-dependent doing activities that are more for attaining something, getting somewhere, the sort of things that I were able to actually do were, essentially, wholly independent of outcome! The activities, in a sense, didn’t actually need me to stretch myself out, put in effort and try at all. In effect, they were thoroughly effortless!
Well of course, they would have eaten up some physical energy, but.
Anyway, let me give y’all an example. Games. Yep, playing games, again. Hah.
See, I felt that I had this extra energy lying around dormant, wanting to be spent or I’d be kinda uncomfortable otherwise. And then well yeah, I thought of playing that game. And so I did, for a bit.
And long story short, it sucked for quite a few games where the results were quite terrible to be honest. But I told myself hey I know I have skill, I can do it even though maybe I’m not at my best right now… played one last game, pulled some sick moves and got ranked the most valuable player on my team. Yep. Hah!
Anyway, what can I glean from this? Well, although the game itself does have ranks and I was indeed playing competitive mode which takes that into account, I was more playing the game independent of the outcome. Simply the experience of playing the game itself and being competent therein was sufficient for me!
Which leads me to this category of activities I noticed which falls under activities of being as opposed to activities of doing.
In a sense, these activities lead you nowhere. In no conceivable way can they be viewed as any productive whatsoever, more or less. They only serve to do one thing, and that’s to bring you happiness, precisely so.
In other words, you do these activities purely for the sake of the experience itself and no other reason! Lacking though they may be in terms of meaning, well, the very fact that they make you happy is their meaning already, huh!
This can further extend to some activities we do in our free time that technically are thoroughly unrelated to boosting us in any real way. Like, simply think about consuming media all day, every day. So dramas, novels, etcetera…
Objectively, meanly, put, we do it to pass the time because we seriously!! have nothing better to do anyway.
But hey! Is it really so?
Well, for some like retirees or house-parents, maybe it is so.
But huh, that’s besides the point.
So I have this thought in mind.
So some people think of these activities as a major part of their lives. They thoroughly identify with it; it is part of them.
There is also a camp who simply does it on autopilot because they’ve got nothing else they could do. Brutal honesty, ouch.
Meanwhile others, and I fall more towards this camp, think of it more like something that they must do. It’s like you’re putting a puzzle together, and you’ve got more extra spaces, and the time slots for an activity can fit it there, and so you fit it there… Puzzle being analogous to schedule, see.
But now, maybe I’d like to consider a new way of seeing all this…
Like, hey! Maybe you could think of these as being activities which, simply by virtue of themselves, bring enjoyment and happiness to your life?
See, doing activities aren’t like that. Doing activities are more for a long-term happiness, because by consistently putting effort into them, eventually you’ll have accumulated enough results that’s oh so laudable.
Yet, in contrast, being activities are more like that instant gratification! Nope! You ain’t going for accumulation! Even if there is some of that it’s only a byproduct and not the cause! Rather, even if in the big picture it’s utterly meaningless and just fills you with pleasure alone, huh! That itself is already super worth it yo!
So allow me to use the analogy of food. Now, maybe following the ‘doing’ principle, we normally go for like healthy food, with fruits and vegetables and all that. But hey!! Once in a while, we indulge! We go snack on like a bag of potato chips just for the taste alone, unhealthy though we know it is! Hah! Like, heyy! Where’s the point in living otherwise?
So similarly, bring this analogy over to the ‘doing’ vs ‘being’ dichotomy.
Yeah, sure, we normally work hard and consistently towards these long-term goals we have, and surely they will pay off in the long run. But, hey!!! In the process, please, oh please don’t discount those little pleasures that are obtainable at this very moment! For event they themselves can bring you considerable happiness! Pointless even unproductive though they might seem, don’t ya see where they lead ya?
Huh, I am momentarily filled with a hint of nostalgia at how I used to be in the past. Like when I was in primary school and stuff, I was literally reading books all the time, even through! fevers. And when I was in national service aka army stuff, I would read webnovels with the corridor lights by the corridor bed till the lights went out and then go to the staircase lights to continue reading the webnovels! Was so hardcore.
But anyway, see! Just these being activities themselves can fill one with so much pleasure, be such great sources of motivation!!! Thus, I believe that perhaps we should see this as the ideal level or state we should have our being activities be. No, not the super hardcore mode, but the super love and relish it like mad mode, hah!
These activities are effortless! Inane they may seem to the observer, unable to get a taste of the enjoyment they bring, but wholly independent of any outcome or doing or trying, they…
They just make you happy!!!
Now, if only we could get all our being activities were like this!!
So before we end this article, which I’m feeling pretty satisfied with, I just want to mention two additional things which I’ve noticed.
First of all, being activities can serve as a sublime way for you to just recharge and get back into your doing activities!!
For instance, say that I am not feeling all that great and don’t feel so motivated to go write my article. Aka some time ago this morning.
Huh! I just turn on a music playlist and sing! And then, I feel so recharged and alive! Energy is overflowing!!! Flex! Oh yeah!
Yeah, so. It’s like this. Have you ever heard of the saying that you should make sure that your cup is filled? Well, I can break it down. Doing is your cup’s function, whereas being is what you do to refill unfilled cup! Because, if your cup ain’t full, you won’t be able to go pour!! from it! So being activities serve! precisely said function too!
So now, aside from appreciating and elevating the status of your being activities in your mind and further honing them to their peak ability to propel, launch, rocket you through their fulfilment, is this also not a very good objective reason to work on it?! Helps with long-term sustainability and productivity too, hah!
Now, one last point that I would like to make. See, the thing is that even things that seem like doing activities can manifest in the form of being activities to an extent! At least, I’ve noticed it through one thing, the sublime power known as inspiration!
See, even when I was sick, I got the inspiration to write a play. Yeah. And then, even while sick, I had a great boost of motivation to write! said play. And so I was sick but outlined the story and I was sick but actually spent a couple hours and finished that play, 5000 words flat. Yeah!!!
So, one might think that since I’m sick, I might not have energy!! In addition to that, I should rest. Yep.
But, no!!! For me, just that inspiration alone served as such a great motivating force that it just propelled me to finishing that play up! Seriously!!!
And so I can conclude that sometimes, it just rests on this thing called inspiration. Sometimes, inspiration can be so great that it just pulls ya on to do a certain activity, and in that sense what is that, if not a being activity already? Yeah!! It summons the power, it propels you straight into completion! Woo!
Hah. Of course, I would say that this is more conditional because it is not really true that people can just get motivation whenever. No! Life delivers it to us, oh that great guru!!!
But anyway, yep! I think I’ve more or less completed the points that I wanted to get at in this article! And, so I’ll just do a quick conclusion okay.
Firstly, I wanna just be kinda… naggy and say that even stuff which appear apparent as not so good can be seen in a new light just by switching perspectives! See, I was sick, and I’m still not sure that I’m fully okay yet, but just this experience alone has given me such an invaluable learning point which I will continue drawing from.
Like, you know, some spiritual people would even say everything happens for a reason, or you can see the light in everything bad happening, which is really here to teach you something! Ha!
Anyway, I just wanted to bring this to your attention for a bit! A complete refrainment of any judgments in the process, yes!!
Meanwhile, I would also like to emphasise what I’ll hereby dub as okay… no reason happiness. I mean, people might doubt this point, saying that the activity itself is a reason, but, yeah. That’s how I am gonna phrase it.
See, the nuance here is that in a sense, this activity may be thoroughly unproductive in the long term and bring you nowhere. All it does is kind of lift your mood super high right now. In that sense, uh… really, it does appear somewhat questionable, huh.
But the perspective I would like to put forth today is that, hey! Simply the fact that said activity is able to elevate your state of being to such a phenomenal degree itself already shows that you have a decent level of affinity with it! Just that alone already kinda is reason enough that it is worth your time!!! Because really think of how many hundred trillion activities there are out there, but it is just this one! that fills your cup?
Whatever the case, before anything else, first of all, give that activity your blessing and gratitude for how it has been able to fulfil you so. Without it your days would have been somewhat diminished huh!
Let’s just jump to a quick scenario. Sometimes, people tend to stick to activities which they know are not good for them, such as getting drunk and going to nightclubs everyday and all that. And so they think that they would like to change and they kinda start to hate those very activities which oh so sustained them?
Or, like, addictions, even!
Well, hey!!
First of all, know that you’re on an evolutionary journey here. It is right, it is proper that you’re stuck in a rut. It may not feel so good, but that is how it is, and even just having awareness of the situation itself is truly excellent as a first step already.
Meanwhile, yeah, addictions. I suppose we could all say that they are bad. In that case, well, I’d say that you’re meant to stop doing them and sooner or later you will. It is only a matter of time as you process out all that is standing in your way yeah.
But, hmm, as for activities that you find more… juvenile. But less harmful, or the harm is more or less within acceptable boundaries.
Hey! Trust that if it’s not for you, you will just mature and grow out of it eventually. But if hey, it just so happens that it is more meant for you than you thought, for, after all, the Creator that is the universe is something of infinite variations, of unique entities and existences everywhere… well! Either way, just go do as you’re called. No need to fight yourself too much, for resistance is bad. Equals attachment in spirituality.
Hmm… anyway! No need to put too much pressure on yourself! Operate as is the most natural for you yeah, and just do your best! You only have one life, so live it the best you can, and remember to get those necessary fleeting pleasures and instant gratification fulfilled in the meantime!
I guess what I wanna say is: don’t!! take life too dang seriously!
See above all I believe we should take life as an adventure…
Huh wth have I been writing…:) welp went with flow.
Alright, I’ve thoroughly overstepped what I was going to write for this article. I hope it still works. I’m gonna take a good rest now and try to fully recuperate from the illness and all. Have a good one! Okay thx bye!