(this post intentionally left blank)
photo by .betty b. on flickr
It’s early evening as I write this, and I still have no idea what to blog about today. So I’m blogging about not knowing what to blog about.
Which reminds me of an induction I wrote some time ago called “Think of Nothing.” It goes like this:
Close your eyes and make yourself as comfortable as possible. Let your arms rest comfortably at your sides, your legs well supported and apart. And just for a few moments, I’m going to ask you to focus all your attention on nothing.
That may sound like a very odd thing to think about … to think of nothing … to allow your thoughts to quiet completely … but thinking of nothing is actually something we do every day … at the end of the night, when we close our eyes and find ourselves in that in-between state … not awake, but not yet asleep … thinking of nothing …
The key to thinking of nothing … is to let your mind relax … to allow every stray thought that wanders in … to just as easily wander out again … acknowledge and release each idea … each image … each sound … each sensation … simply relax them out … breathe them out … so that you can focus all your attention on nothing at all …
As you relax your mind and allow yourself to really explore the concept of nothing … go deep inside your mind, and really surround yourself with nothing … you may find that you can perceive nothing … perceive nothing in your own, unique, personal way … and right now, as you think of nothing, I wonder if you can imagine that nothing has a distinct color … the color of nothing … and allow that color to flow through your mind, filling the space between your eyes and your closed eyelids … one, smooth, rich color … flowing like clouds at night …
And I wonder if you can imagine what nothing feels like when it brushes against your hand … does it feel like a gentle breeze, just brushing the skin? … or perhaps a slight tingle in your fingers as they try to feel nothing … to relax and hold on to nothing … and perhaps, even, allowing that feeling of nothing to spread so that it envelops your body in nothing … and I wonder what that might feel like, to allow yourself to really focus and feel nothing …
Perhaps, as you listen to the sound of my voice and focus on nothing, thinking of nothing, you can also be aware of the sound of nothing … that silence between my words … and above the soft tones of the beats in the background … a void … a nothing sound, between each beat, between each word … and maybe, as you focus on that nothing, you can allow the nothing to expand and fill your mind … the silence … the nothing … blank and open …
And as you imagine all of these things, you may even wonder at how many ways there are to think of nothing … and you may realize that while you think of thinking of nothing, you really may be thinking more about nothing than about anything you’ve thought about yet … and you can allow those thoughts of nothing to quiet the rest of your mind … silence and openness … and realize that you are so intensely focused that it’s easy to think of nothing … so easy to just relax and drift and think of nothing … so that even my words may seem to fade into the background … while you think of nothing … drift on nothing … and dream of nothing …
I wrote it as an exercise, but the result turns out to be a surprisingly effective induction. There are elements of confusion and it engages the imagination well enough that it seems to work for a broad group of people.
The lesson in there, I suppose, is that sometimes even when you have nothing to say, it can be worth saying it anyway. ;^) Fortunately this ends my watch, so you needn’t fear you’ll be reading my grocery list tomorrow.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Hey Michael,
I really enjoyed this as I do all your articles from one guest writer to another
October 31st, 2008 at 5:01 am
Thank you, Josh. I try my best to be faithful to Ellie’s spirit and style. This week in particular, I find the guest stint just reinforced my awe at how Ellie comes up with something insightful and interesting to say every day.
Looking forward to your next guest post. ;^)
<MR>
November 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
Thanks! I want to try this!