A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Taken from the poem ‘Leisure’ By William Henry Davies
I’m sitting writing this email this morning in a busy restaurant at a retail village on the out-skirts of Dublin.
The restaurant is Saba, a top thai/vietnamese restaurant, located in the vibrant Kildare Retail Village.
It’s 11am but the restaurant is already quite busy. Tempting aromas of food and coffee fill the air and there’s a lovely buzz of conversation.
It’s the kind of place where people come to refuel, reconnect, or just take a breather. For me it’s also the kind of place that I do creative and focused work, and I decided to stop here for a break on a trip I’m making – so that I can get this monday email written.
I often get asked do I write these weekly posts/emails myself.
The unequivocal answer is yes. Every single one of these Monday offerings has been written by me since October 2008.
80% of the time of them I have no idea what I am going to write about.
90% of the time I write them on a Monday morning.
100% of the time, it’s my favourite thing to do at the start of a week.
My approach is usually something like this:
What never ceases to amaze me in writing every Monday for 16 years is the limitless source of ideas or stories to share.
The most important step above to me is step 2.
The empty stare.
I’ve since come to realise that some of the best people I’ve ever worked with have their own version of the empty stare.
What it means is somehow disengaging with your usual pattern of thinking and dropping into a space of ‘inner nothingness’ where the shackles of your mind have been removed.
This opens the gateway to new ideas, solutions and pathways forward.
One of my clients was telling me recently that because of our conversations about this they now often take a break during their work day to just stand and stare out the window at the horizon and the view.
But there’s no ‘just’ about it. They now see that this empty stare is full of possibility. It sets an invitation for new ideas, solutions and breakthroughs. In work and life.
The wall I’ve been staring at in Saba for the last 20 minutes has no idea how it’s helped me today.
We live in a time where an inner skill like this is becoming increasingly essential.
Maybe this week, you can take on the challenge of giving some extra time to find your own ‘wall’ and just stare….?
Best,
Shane
PS – I’ve always found busy cafes and restaurants a great place for my writing. I wrote over 50% of The Inner CEO in a busy cafe. It seems to help me move into a different ‘inner zone’.
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