Consume ...nah...Create !

We all consume … by

 reading  a book…listening to the radio…browsing the internet…watching the TV…texting with friends…writing on the wall…sharing a link…forwarding useless emails…etc.,  Some of this may be required by the nature of your job/personal circumstance (say 20%) , most of them (80%) consume our all important time adding zero value.

Say for example, you just returned from the office and switched on the TV news channel…there is a debate going on (again useless one!) with the so called intellectual panel speaking all at once resulting in a cacophony…While the news anchor would say “India wants to know”…I don’t know if we know anything at all from these TV debates…

Or take for that matter, the soap operas (sponsored duly by Soap company promising Fairness!) …there is a unusual blaring background indicating an upcoming difficult situation (Tamil cinema calls it a “Knot”)…When I watch for another 5 minutes, the difficult situation is that the “bahu” cooked a different side dish instead of the one referred by mother-in-law! So much for the creativity in Indian television…

I wont even rant here about the internet…facebook…and the social networks…given the time we spend and the value we get

So you may ask , what else to do?...the simple answer is to Create!

Write a page about any topic !

Reproduce a cartoon image using pencil and paper!

Learn to play a nursery rhyme on the Online keyboard!

Sing a song and record your voice !

Try a new dish in the Kitchen !

Sign-up as a Volunteer for an event !

Build a wooden desk for your kid , yourself !

Teach in your neighborhood school !

Learn to play a sport you had never indulged before !

Capture a moment using your Camera !

..And the list is endless !

Create something… I insist the word something !

In a short frame of time , you will hit the sweet spot of creation …you will be amazed to see your creative juice of the Brain at work. You get consumed in the creation instead of being consumed by consuming ….

When you create something , you will feel energized after!

When you create something , you will feel motivated after!

When you create something ,you will start understanding yourself!

When you create something ,you will hit your passion sooner than later !

When you create something, you would have find your Purpose!

Create something everyday !

Wash the bowl!

A monk told Joshu, “I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me.”

Joshu asked, “Have you eaten your rice porridge?

The monk replied, “I have eaten.”

Joshu said, “Then you had better wash your bowl.”

At that moment the monk was enlightened.

Most Zen stories,such as one above, as abstract as it may sound have a profound meaning. The basic meaning is that we would need to immerse our self into an activity however mundane as it may be. In the current age where computer generated  “To-Do” lists rule the roost, we perform the current activity with an eye already on the upcoming next activity.  At the end of the day, even if you may have completed the entire To-Do for the day , there is a feeling of emptiness. The emptiness is due to the lack of mindfulness as we were going through the motion of activities.

So what is the solution? As Leo Babauta calls it, we need to make the current task as an “Universe” by using the following steps:

Step 1: The purpose : Why am I doing this ?

Say you got to do the physical exercise for…but you woke up a bit late (as usual !) …you feel you don’t have enough time to get ready for the office if you do the physical exercise. Now think of the benefit that even a 15-minute exercise routine can bring to your day…the freshness & the energy ….this should be the real motivation to do the exercise …is it not ?

Step 2: Notice The Fear…

Many a time we go through the motion just for the heck of it…For example, take the case of running with music on…you fear boredom during the jog and mostly switch on the music …while  I have nothing against the music, you are not immersing yourself into your running with your earplugs…Am  I jogging on the ramp? Do I need to slowdown ? Has my breathing pattern set-in? How far should I continue running? How is the sun-rise today? 

Step 3: Make the task your universe…

Imagine somebody walking up to your desk and asking for a important document and gives you only 30-minutes to prepare it…what would you do ? Clear up your table literally to just focus on the current task. Close all the browsers on the computer…close the email program…focus on just the document that you wish to type now…Is it not? So bring the same level of focus to every task you want to do !

Step 4: Wash the bowl , when done…

What does your computer do when you shutdown ? It purges the memory and clears the cache so that computer can continue to perform efficiently ! just pause and reflect on the activity just completed…make  a note of jogging routine …be amazed that you can produce a 3-page document in 30-minutes…Let a smile bloom ! this is infinitely better than rushing off to the next task !

Act without Rationale!

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”   Peter Drucker

I came to believe the left brain-right brain theory during my innumerous attempt at the ritual of waking-up early in the morning.

The most difficult thing in the world is to wake-up early in the morning…as the alarm rings waking up from our deep sleep, I become an Hollywood actor with a multitude of emotions  ranging from anger, irritation, sulking ...and what not !  Just after snoozing the alarm, there is an emotional argument going on in my mind…one portion (right brain…I guess)  says to wake up and chase the dreams…the rational part says…never mind…even if you may doze off a bit, you can still catch up your dream…on some days my left brain even dumbs me down rationalizing that “you ain’t going to accomplish anything in life…at least sleep a little more”

In the Know-Do gap (hyperlink) , earlier I used to (make)-believe that lack of doing is due to Perfectionism (Oh boy ! what an amazing reasoning to cover-up the shortcoming ) . Of late I found the real reason of the Know-Do gap solely due to LAZINESS ( intentionally italicized, bold and underlined). So the same rationalism that help us make aware of the right things to do, prevents us from doing them as seen in the above waking up example…so you may ask what would you expect me to do? …stop being rational !....YES…I repeat If you want to act on a thought stop being rational!

Let us see a few examples of Doing…

Act of waking up…As soon as the alarm blares in your ears, just wake up and rush to the restroom and switch on the light…This may sound whimsical…but as I said Doing is all about being non-rational

Act of Exercising…Just tie the shoelace and hit the Road. Don’t check if it is Sunshine, Rain  or Snow …this may sound paranoid…..Doing is all about being choosing your own path

Act of Meditation…In the melee of your office work ,Just close your eyes and follow your breathe for 2 minutes…If your boss taps your shoulder , ask him/her to sit beside you and teach them a new technique on how to breathe down other’s neck  through meditation

Act of Time Management…Among the hundreds of To-DO tasks, pick the Hardest one and give yourself a minimum of 10 minutes to work on it. Your rational mind will fool you to pick 99 other easy tasks just to give a narcissistic pleasure of ticking them off the checklist….

 Knowing is good…Doing is better.

Knowing is Passive…Doing is Active.

Knowing is Left brained…Doing is Right brained.

Knowing is rational….Doing is paranoid.

And better know that Only the Paranoid Survive and Thrive...and so Act paranoid !