-5/4/22 Nothing

Today's blog will be about nothing. Yes, nothing at all. That doesn't sound like much but at times in our lives, that's what we crave. We long for the disconnect. The reboot. We get so wound up with the task of everyday life and the worries that we either place upon ourselves or find ourselves in that we just want to hit the pause button and simply stall out for a bit. Is stalling out a lack of progress? Well, it depends on exactly how you measure progress.

You could put a little dirt in your gas tank, just a pinch, and it would mix with your 30 gallons of fuel. The ratio of dirt to fuel would be so tiny that you'd probably never notice the lack of performance or hiccups as you're barreling down the road at 75mph. That dirt is your day to day job. Pop that gas cap off every other day and drop another pinch in there. A pinch of bills. A pinch of kids. A pinch of chores. A pinch of (insert 1 million different things here). Each little pinch of dirt and that tank starts to get a little gummy at the bottom. Every time you take off it all sloshes around and remixes but when you park it settles to the bottom and you have the formation of a tiny little island at the bottom of the petrol sea forming again. Eventually, that island rules and despite the fact that there is still more fuel than dirt by ratio, your engine isn't going to run. As humans, we are that engine.

We have so much hitting us from the left to the right to the front and the back on the outside as well as the inside. We put a lot of contaminants down our guts in what we eat. We are cyber attacked with commercials and ads and have the ability to stretch our minds like Silly Putty in whichever direction we choose for entertainment purposes ... until we're just silly. Thus the need for nothing. Hit that stop button. Click on pause. It's time to rewind. You need a very large dose of nothing to restart your brain. Can't you see that it has been running on overload for way too long now and what you really need is to just go outside, sit in the warm sun, and do nothing?

"But Mr. Lazy McBain, that just sounds counterproductive and there is too much that needs to be done."

Believe me, there is much to be done from within and most of us forget to do our regular maintenance. Our engines are not only breaking down but we have unknowingly rewritten our sensors and computer modules in our lack of nothing. We fail to recognize the serenity of life that was present just 20 years ago. The freedom and amazement of 30 years past is either gone or we never think to reach for it. If you go back 40 and remember what dominated your thoughts what do you find? Has that attic on top of your shoulders been cluttered so much you cannot even remember the first items you tucked back in the corner when you began to fill it up with life. Everything that you shoved in there, everything that was replaced with TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, (etc) a keyboard, a screen, all of the joys of feeling the sun on your skin, the love of a bare foot in dirt, the freedom of a body in water, chasing fireflies, climbing over rocks, the pursuit of life in general ... everything that was filled with wonder and laughter ... how deep in the attic is it packed? How much stuff would you have to move out of the way to get to it? Do you even remember where it was in there? You need to find out and go get it. And share it with others. Those are not 'nothing' items, they are definitely something, but what they hold for the mind is rich in nothing. Confusing? Let me clarify.

You're hungry and you tear open a box of Mac & Cheese. Bring it to a quick boil and then rip the powdery cheese packet open, stir stir stir, and eat. You fill that gut in minutes flat (so you can be off to the next brain packing) but will you remember it in a week? Will you remember how good it was? Or was it simply a quick fix to get you by so you could move on? That is our self sabotaging problem. We indulge in a barrage of everyday self sabotaging thoughts, tasks, and entertainment (of many sorts) and our focus is purely over indulgence. Quantity of quality. Have you ever eaten an awesome Mac and Cheese from say, a restaurant? That stuff was damn cheesy and had little pieces of bacon and chives in it (if that's what you like) and it was oh so good? If so, when was that? A week ago? 6 months ago. Couple of years, maybe? If the later, how on earth did you remember how good it was? Couple of years is quite some time to hold onto the love for a plate of Mac and Cheese. Because it was desirable and fulfilling and not just a quick fix to sustain life. You remembered it because it taste like living.

I use the Mac and Cheese analogy to help describe my point of taking time for nothing. Something in nothing. If you were to make it yourself then it's preparation would increase in time but so would the flavor. So would the payoff. You gotta cut up the bacon after it's fried, cut up them chives, maybe pour a little milk in for creaminess, but your taste buds would revel in the moment and it would be memorable. So exactly how is that nothing, you ask?

You weren't focused on many things while you were focused on this cheesy task. And what are those many things you weren't focused on? You know what they would be. Honestly, could you lose the stress and worry over them for just 30 minutes and be better off for it? Probably so. We worry ourselves to the grave and miss out on many, many moments (into hours into days, to months and into years) that could have been filled with wonder and laughter. We robbed ourselves of quality life over a quick fix of M & C so we could keep that social machine running at full steam ahead.

"I don't think taking the time to make a plate of M & C from scratch will better my life," says the negative nay-say-r.

Perhaps not, unless you embrace the reasoning of point and incorporate it into the many moments of your life for rebooting sake. Don't think it'll help? Try it. What's to lose? Slow down, pause, stop. Take some time away from everything for a little nothing for you. Rewrite that mind. Learn new go to habits that comes to mind first. A little bit of nothing can do wonders for you ... and that would be something.

"OK, now you're just talking in riddles. Throwing words out there that I can't follow."

Then perhaps you prove my point and should go make yourself a good plate of Mac and Nothing Cheese.

Point being, people ... well, I was going to reiterate it but I think we all know what we need to do, we just don't do it as we should. We know stuff is bad for us and will shorten our lives but we do it anyway. We don't think about it in the moment, worry about it at a later date. Later does come. Them pinches of dirt in our tanks will eventually come and gum us into shutdown. The tanks of our bodies ... the tanks of our minds. They share the same body and what you put into one, you put into the other.

Here's a challenge for you. (Based on your age) Remember what you're idea of living life to the fullest would have meant to you say, 15 years ago, 20, 30, even 40 or more, and go do it again. Explore through the woods like you were a kid again. Go tubing. Visit a botanical garden and just walk, see, and smell. There is a great one down in Hot Springs, Ar.

Power button- OFF.

Life button- ON.

Unplugged and ready to roll!

Getting my nothing on. And I plan on doing a whole lot of it again because it is where life begins.

Nothing doesn't mean lazy. It doesn't mean sitting on the couch all day (because that's where the Xbox and remote is). That's what you need to learn to enjoy in moderation.

A little more of nothing for the mind could mean everything for the soul. Enrich it when you can. Life is fast paced and difficult but when at all possible, slow down for nothing.

And if you need some slow paced nothing to embrace, check out my new book Caesar's Move. Hell, you can even read it really slow if you like, to soak up the moments. It's not about the # of copies sold (for me), really. I may never recoup my initial investments on publication and that's OK. If you enjoy it, success.

So grab a good book, notepad and pen, paint brush, Crayons (whatever it takes) ... find yourself a little nook, a getaway spot, and enjoy a little nothing time. It'll feed that brain. Until next time ...

Angelo