Is this not the art of living? We just returned from an amazing family vacation in Italy. Just being together, enjoying ourselves, sharing moments, joking, strolling the piazzas of the beautiful and ancient Matera, and appreciating the delicious and unique Italian cuisine. As we know, Italians are great at ‘dolce far niente’. This Italian expression literarily means ‘the enjoyment of doing nothing’. Similar ways of being exist not only in Italy, but in Eastern philosophies (e.g Chinese Wu-wei* from Taoist philosophy). Even in my home city in Bulgaria, Plovdiv, there is an expression ‘bichi ailiak” (бичи айляк) meaning that you are calm and everything is good in your life. This expression has a Turkish origin meaning rest, freedom. After all, Bulgaria historically was under Turkish rule for 500 years!
These ways of being are in contrast with the contemporary way of existence which is ‘doing’…not ‘being’. We are always on the go, running, hustling, multitasking, chasing goals, thinking with worry and feeling anxiety about the future and our security. What goes missing is living our lives in the present, in the here and now – spontaneously, with joy and non-forcing.
What does this actually mean? We often misinterpret non-doing as just sitting and being lazy. However, non-doing is being in the present, observing what is occurring and acting according to the circumstances in a calm way, adapting and choosing the best course of action in alignment with your core self (values, purpose). The principle of wu-wei (or ‘non-forcing’) is grounded in the ability to spontaneously adapt to what is emerging. What else? Non-forcing is a principle of cooperation.. “All interrelationships of nature, whether friendly, or conflicting … are actually forms of cooperation. This is called mutual arising”.
These philosophies and ways of being relate to human transformation. However, one important element is that we can’t transform our ways of being (patterns of existence) unless we allow this to happen in cooperation/“mutual arising” and let change take its place in time. This is the power of coaching, as it accelerates this process.
Well… my vacation ended now and I am looking forward to continuing to serve my wonderful clients who inspire me with their transformational journeys unfolding day in day out.
* “Wu-wei means always acting in accord with the pattern of things as they exist”
Alan Watts
