Being and Doing

And more from the old blog...

I was thinking of a lot of different things to put in today's blog entry but of course now that the time to sit here and compose my masterpiece has come, the thoughts escape me. I have been reading a book about Buddhism and psychotherapy, which is a pretty interesting subject. It seems the two have a lot in common.

One thing that I thought of today, probably spurred by reading the book, was about what we all are doing. We always have to be doing something. Every minute of the day we seem to be doing something or thinking of something that we have to do. Why can't we just spend more time "being" rather than doing, more time observing what's happening around us.

It's sort of like the difference between listening and talking. Most people prefer to talk, which is a form of doing something, while few actually listen. Listening is more like being in the moment, paying attention to what's going on. That's a hard thing to do, even for myself, believe it or not.

They say the way to get better at being, and perhaps listening too, is through meditation. I've tried meditation before but I don't seem to have the patience. I think I have my own type of mediation though, more like zoning out for a few moments or absorbing my surroundings for a while rather than thinking of something. It can be quite relaxing.

That's all I have for today. Maybe I should start taking notes throughout the day so I can be reminded of all these fabulous thoughts that occur.