It happens every year. January brings many fresh faces into already-full classes and veterans return after weeks or months of letting their practice lag, inspired by the promise of a fresh start. Actually, since November, my calendar has been booked for weeks in advance, with client sessions wedged in between teaching 14 classes per week. I love the fervent energy and am humbly grateful for the blessing of abundance! Yet I also love (and need) quiet and stillness. So one of my favorite stories from the Daoist sage Zhuangzi is on my mind today:
“Once there was a man who was so troubled by the sight of his own shadow and so disturbed by his footsteps that he decided to get rid of both. His method of escape was to run away from them, so he got up and ran. But each time he put his foot down, there was another step, and his shadow had no difficulty at all in keeping up. He blamed his failure on not running away fast enough. So he ran quicker and quicker until finally he dropped dead. The man did not realize that if only he found some shade, his shadow would vanish, and that if he sat down quietly, there would be no footsteps.”
We all lead busy lives. And when we are not busy, we create busy-ness anyway–perhaps out of habit from decades of living in a society that values doing and being MORE. Or perhaps the ego fears being lost in the emptiness of stillness. Which reminds me of a quote from my other favorite Daoist sage Laozi:
“Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?”
Even just five minutes of patient stillness can bring us such clarity, and helps us feel even more productive for the other 1435 minutes of the day. I’m going to take five minutes and clear the water right now. Care to join me?
