I was listening to an old Alan Watts talk over breakfast the other day, as you might know I’m wont to do, and he said something to the tune of the following:

”There may be wrong actions but there are no wrong feelings.”

I like that. While there may be wrong actions that I choose based upon the way I feel, there are no wrong feelings. I don’t choose how I feel, but I do choose how I respond.

The energy I use to try to change (to avoid, to numb, to suppress, to project) the way I feel is wasted energy that could otherwise have been channeled into authentic action. When my energy is drained by stifling my feeling, maybe an anxious or sad or mad or jealous or critical feeling, then I have a reduced amount of energy to be channeled into action.

To stifle a feeling is to force it to grow, like trying to block rushing water, the pressure builds commensurately in counterforce to the blocking. Instead of blocking the feeling, you can fully feel it. Let it run through you like electricity. It will run its course if you do not block it. This is what I mean by my book title The Will to Do Nothing, and the book is meant to help the reader stop avoiding what they feel and use the remaining energy to channel into authentic, vulnerable, honest, creative action. If you read the book with care, I believe you will find this authentic action increasingly taking place in your life, in your relationships, in your work, and in your play. Here’s a link to the book if you’d like to read or share it (or give it a review if you’ve already read and enjoyed it).

There may be wrong actions
but there are no wrong feelings.

Do nothing about the way you feel.
Then act authentically.
And repeat.

*If you’d like a community space to explore this more and practice it, feel free to join our Tuesday Zoom calls (with me and Saqib Rizvi). We meet each Tuesday at 10am CT/1pm ET for one hour, The Hour of Now as we’ve been calling it. Here’s the recurring link if you’d like to join us.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO SUPPORT MY BOOK:
Here’s a link to the book
If you already have it
and would like to support its growth,
you could write a review here,
follow the book’s life on Instagram here,
or simply share it with others in your life.
Thank you!