The Lobster in the Pot of Perpetual Doing!

Sometimes we need contrast to see clearly. Oftentimes it is only through contrasts that we gain the insight and wisdom that leads to clarity. Forget for a moment about the bird in the cage analogy, I realised the lobster in the pot of hot water felt much more real and true in this example. That it allowed me to include more sensory awareness and why we might not fly free from the cage, surely it’s easy? The door is open… Right?

I had developed and nurtured a life far less concerned around achieving and far more intent on being and actually living - in the present. In this container of being and living, this pot of being, there was naturally an inner drive to tasks, activities and to see things to completion. To do all that needed to be done there was flow and generally an ease and naturally arising pace that felt comfortable, and nurturing - that was sustainable.

The hustle

When this changed I was not so aware, I could sense a difference but I was used to the hustle of the to-do list, of the striving and always having the next plan, the next task or job to do, the next goal in mind. There were rests but these were underpinned by a sense of time and a sense of responsibility. I didn’t realise the stressors of the environment and the greater world were playing into my experience, it was familiar… I knew this and so hadn’t realised how influenced I had become by this pace and draw of ‘more’, of something else, something better, or…

I have noticed myself in and out of these ways and states of being. Not necessarily aware in the middle but the change and transitions making it palpable and visible again. Recently I felt the worry, the ingrained worry, and the pushing based on lack and a sense of flow had subsided. I felt more at peace, more free and was enjoying the absence of stress, or so I perceived. Then one day I clearly felt the peace again, the quiet that is the grounding beneath being. For me this is when the linear time structures fall away, when responsibilities are not waiting in the wings during moments of rest, and when there is no tug and pull to doing. Where there is no compulsion to do. This is freedom for me. This is to be free in that moment of absolute being. Untethered and unrestrained.

States of being

In that moment I was stunned, the peace I had been enjoying I had not realised still had this tethering to time, to doing, to activity. I felt like the lobster in the lobster pot - unaware of how I had adapted to the environment of stress and doing, unaware of the heating water and the increasing tension I was allowing in myself and in my own environment.

And in that moment, the clarity of perspective, and being able to see and sense both (the gift of contrast), I knew I had to choose. I had to climb out of the pot of perpetual doing and reclaim my own pace, energy, flow and direction within a much quieter knowing. I had to let go of the subtler layers of worry, underpinning perceptions of lack and a drive built upon somewhere other than right here being somehow better.

Becoming present

I chose to sink back into the present, to soften into timelessness, and let the grip of external doing fall away. The land of perpetual doing is likely to keep rolling on, I now choose (again) to set myself free from this pace and from this outdated belief that doing = achieving, that more = better, that all we want and need is later, tomorrow or some time other than now.

This feels a little like the bird in the cage not realising the door is open, but actually the lobster analogy felt much more true, that the merging with the environment and the energies, thoughts and beliefs was so subtle and gradual - but all consuming - there was no door. I had become the environment, attuned to this without realising. The water had got hot without me noticing.

Freedom

And now I am out of the pot and roaming free. I will have to remind myself again to get out of the pot I am sure, this is changing patterns and making choices.

Is it directionless in the pot of being? Is it lazy? Not at all, it is just guided from a deeper sense and knowing, a heart and soul rather than mind and past patterns and conditioning.

Will you join me in the land of living? In the state of being and of attentive awareness? Of presence that feels alive and on purpose, simply by being here now. That’s all we have and it is simply wonderful.