“It’s really hard to just BE.” As I said those words, I knew full well what a sad state of affairs they represented. But they’re true nonetheless. Before today, I have never spent a full hour doing absolutely nothing. And it felt unbelievably challenging. Just BEING is really hard.
I tried sensory deprivation float therapy today, and — I’m not gonna lie — it was a little trippy. No light. No sound. No gravity. (Well, the sensation of no gravity...) It was surreal.
Black as a starless sky, hearing nothing but my own breathing, for 60 whole minutes... As a chronic pain endurer, the weightlessness was magical. There are no words for how incredible my body felt, suspended effortlessly, on a high pain day like today.
But while my muscles and bones relaxed deeper into the water, my mind’s hamster wheel spun faster and louder. Left alone with my thoughts — literally JUST my thoughts — they raced all over the place. Quieting my mind to just BE for an hour was an impossible challenge for me. I hear that part gets easier with practice, but man oh man, it was tough.
I’m reminded how much of my life and even my identity is wrapped up in doing rather than being. I think back on some of my #OneWord365 words and see the threaded emphasis on learning to BE: Look... Enough... Wholehearted... Unapologetic.
THIS is my journey of being...