Friday, September 25, 2009

The Joy Diet - Nothing







I'm still waiting for a copy of Martha Beck's book The Joy Diet. What I gathered from reading other people's posts and listening to Jamie Ridler's delightful vidio that introduced this book club adventure was that the first chapter was on moving to nothing - and the three suggestions for the week's practice were to 1) spend about 15 minutes a day doing nothing, 2) pay attention to the moments when you experience joy throughout the week, 3) make some kind of collage or visual card that represents your experience of nothing. Not having more guidelines than that, I decided to experiment.








I played with my 15 minutes doing nothing in different settings: lying on my bed with my feet up on the wall, sitting in the parking lot waiting for my little grandson to emerge from preschool, sitting on my front steps - and sitting in my studio where I had caused total chaos by pulling the contents out of a closet. I chose not to call my time meditation - because that felt too structured to me. Instead, I watched my breathing ( I know, you do this in meditation, too), heard things around me, felt breeze or not, noticed people going by or not, put aside things that tried to make me make plans, and let myself sink toward nothing.








It takes a while. No matter where I practiced, initially I tensed. My breathing speeded up. My head became a clutter, a whirlwind. As I stuck with it, thoughts drifted away - some returned or captured me, but gradually they gently subsided. And every once in a while I was floating - so briefly, not even a breath's length before I noticed and lost it. But when I was at that still point, I felt fully supported. When I started this week and wondered what I'd paint at the end, I anticipated gray. But that's not what it felt like to me - it was a very soft surrounding, more vibrant than gray but not intrusive. I couldn't quite paint in one static image - because getting to nothing took time. So I layered this little journey. The top layer is full of chaotic thoughts and images. When I remove that the next layer has things floating in and out, but there is a pattern of settling occurring. And the last layer is that short experience of nothingness.






I'm so eager to see and read what others found in their week. And if you're not already doing this book club, but find it intriguing, it's open to all at any time. You can find Jamie's blog link on my first post.

19 comments:

  1. I don't like to call what I did meditation either...that may be what it is but I didn't want to feel I was doing something "structured".

    I like how you found your nothing through the week and I found the same thing -- I would just be getting to the point of nothing and something would slide in...unwanted!! But I kept at it and that's the main thing -- that we keep practicing this.

    Your painting is a perfect example of nothing and thoughts swirling around. Here's to discovering "truth" over the coming week!

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  2. Oops! One of the things I learned is that when I upload multiple images I need to reverse the order so they will come up in proper sequence in the end.

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  3. It's all a learning experience!! Trust me when I say you will have the hang of this in no time!! :)

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  4. love the painting and the picture it paints of nothingness and thoughts swirling around. I hope you get your book soon.

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  5. love your painting. i like your take on nothing. :)

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  6. Beautiful description of nothingness, and beautifully expressed in your painting! :)

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  7. Beautiful paintings! And I like the idea, you started your nothing with nothing but a few hints from others. Hope you will receive your copy soon though.
    Thank you for your nice comment. It means so much to me, that someone says, she likes my descriptions, because I sometimes feel so clumsy writing in a foreign language, always hoping there are not too much mistakes in it. ;)
    Catherine's room is really wonderful, because it mirrors aging/changing daytime/changing seasons in one go. Bill Viola once said: "Every woman should have such a room where she can withdraw." So so right!
    Being occupied with simple things like sewing, having only a few possessions, living in the rhythm of the changing seasons. Oh how Anne Morrow Lindbergh would have liked it! ;)
    Take care, see you next week when it's time for TRUTH!

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  8. Your painting certainly conveys the layers we experience as we seek the experience of nothingness. The Coralie Clement track that you like so much comes from the soundtrack of the movie, "Somethings Gotta Give" starring Diane Keaton and Jack Nickelson. Enjoy!

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  9. Hi Thanks for stopping by. I see you are new to bloging too. I enjoyed your painting and I love the kitty rock at your shop. I painted rocks to be a village around my tree at my old home it was quite fun. I wish I would have brought them with me. But it was too much to get moved I had to let go of allot of things. You did great with out the book. See ya next week.

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  10. Hello Becky,
    Even without your book I feel you have done beautifully, you have probably done 'nothing' more than once a day and so got in a lot of practise, hope your book arrives soon, and your card looks great wih splashes of colour!
    Angie :)

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  11. I like your painting. Hope you get your copy of the book soon, but after reading this post ... I think you are getting along just fine!

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  12. My book arrived today - yay! I'm so glad because I could figure out the nothing on my own, but don't have a clue what we'll need to do for truth. I really am enjoying this process with everyone.

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  13. I experienced nothing in layers too. It's all a process. I had to learn to be patient with myself. Take care and have a great week in Truth.

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  14. Floating is a wonderful way to describe it. I hope you get more floating in.

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  15. oh, I found that I tensed up immediately at first too. It almost seemed as if I was trying too hard. When I just let it go and didn't care whether I could label it nothing or not, it just came in the end. Thanks for sharing, and for stopping by to say hello! I am happy you got the book finally too! enjoy your week of truth :)

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  16. I love the way you courted nothing in different settings!

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  17. Nice post. I like your process of discovery for yourself, even without the book. That takes some confidence! Beautiful.

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  18. How awesome that you are getting the spirit of the book without it. :) You're a rockstar! Love the vision card! :)

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  19. Now that is hilarious! I love that you were able to discern what the chapter was about by reading the blogs of others who are participating in the book club. I think that you should consider an experiement...can you make it through the entire book without actually opening it. From what you completed for this week, you captured the entire essence without skipping a beat!

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