Leave it alone

Something I've been recognising over the past years, especially as my meditation practice has deepened, is that there’s a power in stepping back, observing, of remaining in this sense of stillness & awareness amidst the chaos and this frenzy.


There's a lot of activity in the mind - pushing away of negative thoughts and striving towards ones which you might prefer. Problems to solve, conflict to resolve, regrets to make peace with and a future to execute.


Muddy water is best cleared when left alone”

- Alan Watts


There's so much frenetic activity in the external world - the push and pull of stimulation and distraction. Using the metaphor from the Watts quote above, when the water is shaken and stirred - i.e. trying to force the mud to settle, the mud swirls around, there is no clarity and the visibility disappears.


And the more you try to fix it, to grasp it, to force it to clear, the murkier it becomes.


It’s the same with the mind - note how when we meddle in the activity of the mind, put up resistance, try to get rid of by force, push certain thoughts away, they intensify.


In the midst of the mental noise, the instinct is to do, to get rid of, to take action. We want to solve it. The masculine urge to fix - to take action.


It seems as tho what is often considered feminine - receiptivity, surrender and allowing - are qualities to employ when it comes to working with the mind.


It can often feel like that to do nothing, to be, to surrender, is an act of passivity, a weakness. You might reflect on this being a subtle conditioning for men especially, based on a cultural or society that is predominantly about doing, getting things done, taking action - the lack of intentional rest and recuperation in today’s world comes from this too.


There is a time for taking action, of doing…and there is a time to surrender and allowing.


Ironically, nature is in constant flux. It's dynamic and ever-moving. The seasons are continuously changing. The sun rises and sets. The waves are crashing. The leaves are falling. And so it's even a paradox to think when you are still and simply being and not taking action, that there is no action taking place, that you're being passive or idle. This is not the case.


We're simply merging into the flow of the natural unfolding of things.


And so at times when it's called for us to surrender, to let go, to allow the right action to emerge.


But there is fear in letting go, to surrender, because the mind thrives on the control (illusion of) and predictability and the doing…in the sense that it can achieve it’s outcome if there is always this strong action taking place.


And so surrender really is a practice.


Letting go of control, of trusting into your intuition, your heart, knowing that there is a deeper intelligence that will flow through you and knows what to do if you let go of the control, if you surrender and allow for things to unfold.


And so an invitation for you this week is to pause from time to time, especially when you notice being pulled into the chaos, the frenzy, the muddiness - when you notice the forcing, the pushing away…


To pause and take a step back. And trust enough to allow for the right action to emerge of it’s own accord.