Going slow, to go far
“All of humanity’s problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
These words feel like they were crafted specifically for our modern world.
We don’t want to sit with our thoughts. Because doing so might lead to us questioning their weaknesses, or worse, their origins.
Instead, we tweet them out without hesitation. We’ve seen the rise of ‘hot take’ culture as something to be owned with pride.
Or, we avoid them, drowning them out in an endless feed of cute animals, fashion fads, hilarious fails, and 30-second clips of people being ‘owned’.
We do, do, DO. We move, move, MOVE. We fidget, we scroll, we let our minds run away with our thoughts as though they’re naughty teenages in the night escaping the threat of responsibility.
But those words are more than four hundred years ago. When Pascal Blaise wrote them, it seems that the people of in 17th century France hated being alone with their thoughts just as much as we do.
I think it’s this ‘inability’, fear perhaps more accurately, that sits behind our relentless pursuit of productivity.
In a study by the University of Virginia, researchers found the following:
In 11 studies, we found that participants typically did not enjoy spending 6 to 15 minutes in a room by themselves with nothing to do but think, that they enjoyed doing mundane external activities much more, and that many preferred to administer electric shocks to themselves instead of being left alone with their thoughts. Most people seem to prefer to be doing something rather than nothing, even if that something is negative.
As part of a similar study, other researchers found that:
95% of adults said they'd found time for a leisure activity in the previous 24 hours, but 83% said they'd spent zero time just thinking.
It is easier to just do, do, do. Too often, it negates the very need to think.
We can throw ourselves into what’s in front of us, and pretend that the feeling of being useful, feeling productive, is the same as extracting meaning from what we’re doing.
This might be the case, of course. But, how often is it?
I recently wrote the following:
There is no meaning of life, there is only the meaning that we create for our own lives.
And it’s because I believe that when we know how to tap into meaningful choices in our life, we have less of a need to be 'productive' all of the time.
When we are aware of what we can assign meaning to, and how, it puts us in control of when we can access what is meaningful. It becomes less pressing to do, do, do. We can slow down and remain in the present. Because we recognise that meaning comes from within our control, and is not meant to be something that we need to ruthlessly chase.
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
Picasso's believed that true meaning in life isn't found in constant busyness or ceaseless productivity but in understanding our unique gifts and sharing them with the world. When we recognize and nurture our talents and passions, we discover a profound sense of fulfillment that transcends the pursuit of productivity.
Legend has it that Picasso found himself in a Parisian cafe, absentmindedly sketching on a napkin. Being at the height of his fame, he was recognised by a fan who saw an opportunity and asked him how much it would cost to buy his doodle.
Upon finishing the napkin artwork, Picasso made an audacious request, asking for a huge sum in Francs in return for the sketch.
The staggering amount left the admirer astonished, considering that Picasso had crafted the drawing in just a few minutes. To her, the artwork's value seemed disconnected from the brief time invested.
Yet Picasso had a response that has etched its place in the annals of art history, declaring:
“My dear, it took me a lifetime to be able to draw this sketch.”
Picasso knew the power of going slow, in order to go far.
When a painter meticulously crafts a piece, they don't rush through the process, frantically trying to finish as many paintings as possible. Instead, they invest time, emotion, and creativity into each stroke, finding meaning in the act of creation itself. Their art is a manifestation of their inner self, not merely a means to an end.
By embracing meaningful choices, nurturing our unique gifts, we shift our focus from the relentless pursuit of productivity to a life that celebrates the richness of the present moment. Meaning, after all, is not an elusive treasure to chase but a wellspring that flows from within our own choices and passions.
But we cannot access this vision of an inner self unless we give ourselves time to think.
Trying to do so is like grabbing at a bar of soap. It will evade our grasp, drowned out by the relentless shower of life’s to-dos. But if we shut off the taps, even for a few moments, and let the noise drip away, we gives ourselves a chance to get a grip on what meaningful choices might represent for us.
How can you make time this week to simply sit with your thoughts? Not judge, not avoid, nor evade, but simply sit with them, as you might alongside a friend you’ve known for decades.
Without a need for words, or action.
Just in the act itself?