“Unfortunately, busyness seems to be a prized trait in our culture - as if more activities, meetings and responsibilities we can jam into our schedules the better people we are. Ask a friend what she’s doing today, and you’ll likely get an exhaustive rundown of various tasks… it’s almost as if we are trying to out-do each other in how many things we can ‘get done’.
Minimalist living is the opposite. We’ve been learning how to say ‘no’, eliminate the excess, consolidate, standardize and delegate no so we can get more done – but so we have less to do… The objective is to leave some time open, empty and free – instead of always ‘doing’, we want some time to just ‘be’.
Just ‘be’ – it’s a foreign concept to many of us. How often are you able to kick back with a cup of tea and simply let your thoughts wander… or soak for an hour in a bubble bath… in our ‘busy is best’ culture, we can hardly imagine ‘wasting’ time on such idle pursuits. And God forbid someone caught us… they’d think we have nothing to do!”
above statement quoted from Francine's book. ©Francine Jay, 2010
It’s funny, because years ago, in my sketchbooks, I started writing about “formless being” and “being vs. doing”. I have a variety of phrases on my Title List regarding this, including “create more, consume less”.
I have been wanting to further incorporate the idea of Being vs. Doing into my paintings for years ~ but then, it seems that since it is a thought I hold passionately inside, it does come out through the paintings, doesn’t it?
painting featured: Time Well Spent, 10x10
This Original Painting is Currently Available
The Free Cards Winner for last week is Kristi ~ let's do it again this Friday!
Have a wonderful week
I'm so glad you posted the title and an excerpt from this book. Defintely powerful, "Just be."
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