This week’s post would’ve been centered around The Social Dilemma and how it related to some other articles I came across, but because I’ve yet to watch the documentary, I’ll table that discussion for now. إن شاء الله next week.

While I was deciding what to talk about this week, I got caught up in my thoughts, ruminating about how necessary it is to providing value to the world and overthinking how much benefit each of these posts are supposed to provide. After an IMMENSE amount of support from last week’s post, which I’m so grateful for, I ironically went against the purpose I had laid out for myself with this blog: to document the things I learn on a weekly basis. So I’m just going to dive into some content I came across this week and share my reflections. I apologize for the brevity.

Ma

Protecting yourself from getting overwhelmed on a day to day basis is a tricky subject, and there are often too many factors to keep track of. When you’ve passed the stage of identifying your purpose, you might question why you’re feeling off a certain day. Here I’m focusing on our general feeling of wellbeing and notable hints of anxiety. When was the last time I ate and what did I put in my body? How much sleep did I get last night? Am I being active enough? Is this just a wave of general anxiety? Am I avoiding a topic of conversation with someone? We’ll ask ourselves these questions to try and narrow down the issue, and most of the time it proves to be helpful. That is if we take the time to question ourselves.

I have a habit of filling my schedule to the brim with tasks, whether they’re urgent or not, to try and squeeze out the most of my days. But there’s an inherent “I feel like crap” that’s associated with some of these days. In the breaks that I do take, I’ll either pull out my phone, watch some youtube, or walk around outside with a podcast on. I don’t give myself time to actually think. To be alone with my thoughts. To have no inputs and just explore my current state.

I think a lot of people can relate when I say I’ve become numb to the constant preachings of fighting against hustle culture. The hyper-individualized aspects of society, paired with the fleeting essence of time, put us in a state of overdrive and we always feel like we’re behind. And I’ve heard so much about the importance of self-care and taking breaks that it all seemed sort of mumbo jumbo to me. Everybody was talking about it and it seemed obvious. I take breaks… right?

Akshad Singi has an article highlighting 3 Japanese Concepts, focused on healing, blankness, and nature. The aspect of blankness really intrigued me, because it was something that I regarded as just another obvious reminder, but it pointed out a flaw I had been brushing off as a non-issue.

He discusses the concept of ‎Ma, which is roughly translated to nothingness or silence. Here’s a beautiful poem that really highlights what Ma represents:

• Thirty spokes meet in the hub,
• though the space between them is the essence of the wheel.
• Pots are formed from clay,
• though the space inside them is the essence of the pot.
• Walls with windows and doors form the house,
• though the space within them is the essence of the house.

The takeaway from the article was that we’re all inherently fearful of nothingness. We try our best to fill our times with anything, even if its when we think it’s productive. If I’m done with my tasks, I start browsing YouTube. And if I’m feeling productive, I’ll check what’s new on Medium, read a book, or listen to a podcast. But I can’t bear to sit without doing anything, because that’s not going to help right?

This concept is also observed in Islam. ^^Khalwa^^, or the act of isolating and secluding oneself, is highly revered and is the pinnacle of our Faith, as it’s the state our beloved Prophet (SAW) was in when he first received the words of God. When Ramadan comes around, you see people living in the masjid for the last 10 nights, not because they got kicked out of their homes, but out of choice to seclude themselves from the outside world. But why is this so emphasized?

I feel like we tend to fool ourselves into thinking we’re taking enough time off to reflect. If someone asked me if I take breaks from my daily routine, I wouldn’t hesitate to respond in the affirmative. But when I actually look at my calendar and the general schedule that I have laid out for myself, there’s no intentionality behind these moments of reflection. I don’t go out of my way to make sure I have time to actually think. Sure, I try to journal every day, but that’s still requiring me to be on my laptop and isn’t something that sparks many deep inquisitions about myself.

One practical thing that I’ve been implementing since I read this article is directly from what Akshad advises in his article. ^^Incorporate 30 minutes of “Think Time” in your day.^^ This is a dedicated time to silence. If you live in a noisy household, take a walk, but leave your phone and headphones at home. Schedule out time every day for you to be left alone with your thoughts. Lex Fridman talks about how he does something similar. Any idea or thought that he wants to explore on a deeper level, he’ll dedicate a time every day to deeply think about it. When there are no distractions, and it’s just him breaking apart an idea to its core. He even goes as far as doing it while he eats, just sitting and thinking about the food, where it comes from, how it got in his hands, etc.

And if you’re like me and you can’t pinpoint why you feel a certain way, this might be your answer. I’ve been implementing Time Blocking to make sure I set 30 minutes a day to just nothing. A dedicated time for nothingness. It’s been enjoyable, because it lets me actually feel like I’m decompressing, and those are the moments that truly feel like a break. No noise but nature (which is Akshads third point). It’s been helpful for brainstorming what to talk about in my daily podcasts, and the most important benefit is that I’m able to truly psychoanalyze myself. To ask myself questions that otherwise would be neglected. How am I actually feeling?

Try it out and let me know how it goes for you. It’s something that I’m still experimenting with, but it matches with a lot of what we hear from the self-help gurus so it’s worth a shot.