Labour of Love

I saw Elizabeth Gilbert on TED Talks. I hadn’t even read her then. Never heard of her. Her talk started with “I am a writer…” and proceeded to enchant me until the very end. I’ve “Olé!’ -ed her every since.

Another source of enchanted writing I have come across over the years is Brain Pickings. I never have enough time to read it all but when I do I am in awe of the delicate threads and wide reading and just magical use of words to sooth the searching-for-meaning soul. And then I found out that Maria, the girl who writes it, is Bulgarian and I was double “wow”. Because I think it is awe inspiring to come across people who are able to write in a foreign language like that.

And then two days ago I got a note that Maria of Brain Pickings has written a book which is going to be published by Penguin Random House in Feb and introduced to the world in a conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert. No other publicity.

I had to pause. It’s like when you are attentive enough to catch the synchronicity in the Universe and dwell on it. I took a “double take”. I went back to explore. In the “about the author” she has chosen to put that “She grew up in Bulgaria immersed in music and mathematics”. I mean, you just have to respect someone who makes that one of five things known about them.

I also explored her blog a bit more. Indulged. She describes it as a “Labour of Love”.

Labour of love.

I have come across this term before. In other writings of other writers. Sounds poetic. It is also a curious concept to reflect on.

Labour of love. When you do something that you love it does not feel like a Must or a Should or an Ought to. It is not a chore. It is not a burden. It is not a “Why do I have to?”

Anything, any project, any endeavour which is a Labour of Love is pure joy. It is right. It is light. It flows. It helps you ride time without you noticing it has gone by because you get lost in it. You have to do very little for your Labour of Love. Seemingly it just gets done on its own.

I imagine we all have our thing which can be called our Labour of Love. The question it – do we know what that is and are we doing it? Or does it get pushed aside by the other doing? It is a real shame if it is.

Writing about the many aspects of doing little, on a Sunday morning, as I do little, is my Labour of Love. I can only report that it feels good to keep sitting with it week after week; it feels good that I carve time for it in my life; and it feels good that it take as little time and effort as it does. What you love is like that: you only have to show up a little for it and it rewards you handsomely.

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (and you will feel that way, doing little, when in the act of doing your Labour of Love. So do that)

 

To see Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk on creativity – click here

https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius?language=en#t-2680

To explore Brain Pickings for yourself – click here:

https://www.brainpickings.org/

To find out more about Maria Popova and her “Figuring” book – click here

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2191736/maria-popova/

Snow balls

Do we all sometimes wonder what it would be like to start over?

I am not going to lie: I do.

In the context of minimalism this to me means stripping an entire room bare, like – everything moves out of the space.

And then only putting back what you absolutely want, need and feel 100% sure fits in your life after you have hit the “reset” button.

It’s what dreams are made of.

No object makes it back into the room unless it would be part of your space even if you started over.

It feels overwhelming to even contemplate doing in real life. The closes we probably get to it is when we move house. Which by design we do a lot more often in the early years when we have not had a chance to accumulate that much stuff anyway. Less often later, when we actually need to shed some stuff off. But even when moving house we tend to be preoccupied with the mechanics of moving house and less so with the opportunity to embrace conscious possession.

I last moved house 5 years ago. I look around me and there is so much stuff that, really and truly, I would not put back if it ever left the room.  Getting it to leave is the issue. Because we don’t own our stuff, our stuff owns us. Which is why it is impossible to part.

Stripping the diary bare and only putting back what feels right and brings joy – now that’s something that actually is a lot easier to do. Yes, it does require mental space and some serious mental muscle. Yes, it feels huge. Yes, it is unorthodox. But, boy, it is possible.

In my experience: all you need to do it start. In my experience: it snow balls after that.

If you take one thing out of your diary, it is easier to take out a second. And when there and you come to think of it – it is easy enough to wipe the slate clean and start over. A blank day. A blank week. A brand new blank month. Or a year. Imagine that. Only putting back in the diary the commitments that bring you joy or you have a compelling reason to keep. And putting down and letting go all that you do out of habit; all that feels like a burden if you just paused to feel how you feel about it. Wouldn’t that be nice? Fresh. Light.

I am experimenting with that. The snow ball is rolling and I am going to let it avalanche.

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (Do little to clear the diary. Just make a start. Gravity will take care of the rest)

Let it be, Let it be, Let it be.

Where I come from we celebrate Christmas Eve more so than Christmas Day. May be it was just what family did. Who knows.

The centrepiece of Christmas Eve is the bread that is home baked with good fortunes hidden in it (fortune cookie style). Prosperity. Abundance. Love. Health. Luck. Happiness. Joy. Hope… Little objects or scribbles on paper to represent what’s really important. What we wish for ourselves and the people in our lives. What would make us feel good.

The bread is blessed and then shared amongst the people at the table so that everyone can find out what their fortune for the coming year is.

You don’t then go out forcing it and making it happen.

No, you just trust that it will be.

And it will.

 

This Christmas Eve I got the “Travel” fortune. I am ready. And “Hope”.

 

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (in fact do nothing; just let it be)

A moratorium and bankruptcy – why not?

Yesterday was the shortest day.

So technically today is the first day of the new year because the day was longer than yesterday. We are at the cusp of the new cycle. A good time for reflections of what has been and what we would like to let go of.

There are so many ways to go about it.

But I came across the curious novel idea of:

• setting a 6 month moratorium on something you are currently doing that it would be just good to take a break from; 6 months, no activity; no thinking about it; no future planning; nothing. A moratorium. Break.
• shortly followed by declaring bankruptcy on something altogether; giving it up; abandoning. Full Stop. That project that you never get round to, that hobby that you keep buying supplies for but never engage with, that commitment which has lost its direction or shine, that person who is just toxic, that habit. Pulling the plug and never looking back.

I  have to say I was intrigued.

I am intrigued.

I can see that I do some things because I have “always” done them. I am kind of tired of them, kind of resentful, kind of wishing I could give them up but feel the obligation. Except of course I can give them up. It’s my choice. Comes with consequences but it is possible.

So I am in the enquiry. Of where I can best serve and what best serves my current interests, purpose and intentions. The rest is better to let go of. For a while. Or forever.

Making room for the new.

What about you?

Much Love,

Elize Do Little (and not only that but may be fully stop. So you can feel lighter. And have the space to see what else is there. You never know – the next thing in your queue may be amazing)

Patience

Most of pain comes from wanting things straight away but having to wait.

Sunshine.
That trip.
Being at peace. With anybody. With your body.
A pet.
A place to call home.
Excitement.
Solitude.
A thoughtful present.
Being present.
Skill mastered.
Healing.
Time to read.
Someone.
Something.
Clarity.
Ecstasy.
Joy…

They all come. Eventually. Not always now. Not straight away. Often not when desperately wanted.

But it all comes. When it is time for it to. You can do little to make it happen any faster. Often you may have to wait till the morning. Till tomorrow. Or one day. May be soon.

Wanting and having to wait is hard. But what if you swap the pain for quiet patience?

You can do little but let things unfold as they are meant to. They are unfolding. Sit with it.

Much Love,
Eliza Do Little (Don’t force it; That thing your heart desires? It’s coming anyway)

No G

When the mobile data network goes down, there is little you can do about it. No 3G. No 4G. No G.

No GPS. No ping. No thumbs up.

 

Silence.

You are unplugged. Offline. Off the grid. Possibly lost. Blocked off from online consuming. Unchartered territory in any sense. Because it is not your choice.

 

The net effect of the mobile data network going down is that the only person in your network you can actually work with for entertainment and passing time and stimulation on the go is…yourself.

You are The Feed. The data source. The share. The mental image. The conversation. The smiley face. The lurker. You are IT.

A rare, rare moment in the current of life.

 

With the “noise” paused for me yesterday I chose to take myself for a coffee. With myself. Doing little but noting what’s there when the data flow cuts off.

It was kinda nice. And good to know I am still there. I am always there, even when I cannot hear myself very well because of the noise.

 

I can chose what happens to the noise.

It can be done. And probably should be done. You don’t have to wait for the mobile network to collapse. You can leave the (de)vices at home now and then and go for a walk or a coffee alone and explore the pleasures of doing little just as you are. Not doing. Simply being.

 

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (except: occasionally unplug; you might hear your own thoughts if you do)

 

And O2, dude, apology accepted. In fact: Thanks!

“O2 4G data network restored after day-long outage”: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46464730 [BBC, 6/12/2018]

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I am not for everyone

I am not everybody’s cup of tea. And that’s fine. There is no need for everyone to be a tea lover.

A lot of people can’t stand tea. Some only drink it when they are ill and don’t give it a second thought at other times. A lot of people can only drink their tea when sweetened or diluted with milk.

I get it. You may not stand me, can only take me if diluted, in small doses, or only remember me when you need me.

I am not taking it personally.  There is little, or absolutely nothing in fact, to do about that at all but let it be.

I don’t need everybody’s love. There are always enough tea aficionados out there for it to be a big deal.

Truth be told, not everybody is my cup of tea either. Nothing personal. I am just a coffee drinker.

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (in fact do nothing to change yourself into what you are not so as that you be liked; those who like you do because of who you already are; and isn’t that wonderful? the rest are just background)

Can I do little but get more done differently?

I am in the enquiry space. Around organising what I do.

I take note of some ideas that pop up. Not all.

I organise ideas in lists, and by theme. Some get done. Some get lost over time. And clog up my electronic storage.

I am not quite happy about that.

I don’t want to do everything. Far from it. I have long stopped wanting to be Elza Do It All.

But I am not sure I am taking care of all the really important things. And I am not sure I always know what the really important things are. Sometimes I have a feeling I have lost perspective, and when the feeling is there, I probably have.

I have some system going in an attempt to stay on top of my ‘to do” list. I spend time every night deciding what are my top 3 intentions for the next day. I pause at the start of every day to decide the 3 most important things I have to achieve at work. This “keeping it to 3” really works for me.

But the big projects. The big ideas. They get deferred. Possibly indefinitely.

So I am in the enquiry.

About possibly going a bit left. Or a bit right. Being open to a little bit of course correction. There are always options.

I have seen a friend rave about a “Getting Things Done” (GTD) system. I quickly checked it out yesterday. It speaks to me. I’ll be giving it a try while being mindful of my intention to not go too far the way of “doing”. I kind of want to have a lean working system which I can wear like a loose garment, not be feeling constrained by it as a corset.

So may be there will be more to share about that.

How do YOU do it?

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (and can it be dine differently?)

Nothing is ever a “should”

I think “should” is overrated. Overused.

It’s also Over for me.

At least I hope it is.

 

Don’t ever tell me what I “should”. Because the truth is you have absolutely no idea. At best, you might know what you “should”. But even that is questionable.

That list of things that you think I should be doing, and people I should be like or with, or places I should go see or else, and thoughts I should be thinking, and heights I should be achieving… They don’t exist. I am absolutely clear about that and if you beg to differ, you are wasting your time preaching to me. I don’t think you know the same way I don’t think I know. Consider that it is possibly grandiose to think otherwise.

 

That list of things that you think you should be doing, and people you should be like or with, or places you should go see or else, and thoughts you should be thinking, and heights you should be achieving… Equally, what if you stop and consider that you don’t?

Is it possible that you will feel relief if you reject the “shoulds”? Especially if somebody else passed onto you those “shoulds”.

If that’s vaguely the case – the choice is yours to do just that. You can stop complying with the shoulds. It’s not something you should do. It’s something you might like to consider.

 

Good luck getting back to basics without any “shoulds”. Your own untried, untested, slightly messy but somehow liberating way. That road probably leads to a more satisfying life. A lighter one, for sure.

Nobody ever dreamed of a heavy life.

 

Much love,

Eliza Do Little (especially when it comes to the “shoulds”)

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When I have no clue ​

 

Sometimes I have no idea how to proceed.

I have no idea what the expectations are. If I can or should be doing anything. If a line has been crossed. I basically don’t know what next.

It’s an uncomfortable place to be. Smudged in vagueness and mental fog and heightened anxiety.

It happens often. I often don’t know how to proceed.

In those moments perhaps more than ever it’s good to do little. Just the next tiny step in an unknown direction perhaps. Sort of a tentative beginning. Nothing more until the course becomes clearer.

That’s probably enough. Even that is “moving forward“. I’ve got no choice but to trust that’t the case.

“Life is a marathon, not a sprint” someone told me yesterday : ) “Without a map” is what I’ll add to that.

Doing little still moves you forward on your path. Which is a big deal when you don’t know where you are going with this.

 

Much Love,

Eliza Do Little (and when you don’t know for sure, doing a little has got to be enough; more will be revealed)

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