this Camus passage changed my life. when i read it, a seed was planted and i eventually took the clean + digestible 'just do it' nike slogan that so many of us unconsciously live by, and morphed it into my own motto: 'just be'.
"Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but 'steal' some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be." -Albert Camu
my body + nerves prefer this way of being. because it takes the result out of the equation, i don't grip everything tight to control the bends of the day's processes.
this perspective also helps me get up early in the morning. makes me not accost my nerves to kick into high functioning gear straight out of bed. i remind myself that all i will do when i get up is to just be: make matcha, mist my plants, just look at things. whatever it means to just be. this state doesn't feel like a total kick in the pants when i'm deciding between getting up + snoozing.
most 'success' habits promote getting amped up and launching into turbo mode, but i think we all make better decisions and do more when we're calm. 'just be' does just that.