Tao of Pooh
I really enjoyed reading the Tao of Pooh. It had been on my list of books I want to read for a long time, but I never got around to reading it before this class, so I was very excited to see it on the list of required readings. I don’t usually get excited about required texts, so this was a first. I brought the book with me to a research assessment I had to run in which I basically sat quietly for two hours and I read the entire book in that time span. I could not stop reading it. Every page I read, I would think “Wow, that’s so simple, but it makes so much sense.” I also realized while reading that I was a “Busy Backson.” Not a happy realization.
I have been busy planning for my future since I entered middle school, just like most people. In middle school they start telling you that you have to start thinking about what you want for a profession and trying to get into a good high school. In Henrico, this meant a specialty center at a high school (I went to the Humanities center). Then in high school, I worked my butt off both in class and at a part-time job in order to prepare for college. I missed a lot of social events in high school and never had time for extracurricular activities. Now that I am in college, I am breaking my back with classes, research, and a job trying to reach graduate school. Then finally, I will have the job I have been working my entire life towards, but at what cost? I have been working so hard that I have already had an ulcer, developed anxiety issues, and am stressed more times than relaxed. After reading about “Busy Backsons” I realized that Taoism is what I have been searching for so long. I have been trying to plan everything from such a young age that it has done more harm than good. My boyfriend has taken the Taoist approach to life. He makes good decisions for his future, but he isn’t actively planning it. He values spontaneity, learning through experience (including mistakes), and maintaining a sense of child-like appreciation and wonder for the world. I have envied him for this, not realizing I could be the same way if I just tried, or rather don’t try (Wu Wei). I have let go of planning every detail of my future, have reduced my hours at work and stopped signing up to do so much research in order to give myself some time to rest. Honestly, I have been a lot happier and feel so much less stressed.
I don’t think that everyone has to instantly adopt the title of Taoist, start meditating, and throw caution to the wind. I do, however, think that a lot of Americans need to learn how NOT to plan everything. We get taught our whole lives that if we don’t make airtight plans, our future will slip through the cracks and we’ll end up poor and living under a bridge. I think that the reason so many people have nervous breakdowns and develop depression or anxiety is because their carrying this weight around all the time that if they don’t watch out, life will get away from them and they’ll be ruined. What a burden to carry. We need to learn to trust our heart and not always rely on our head. Anyway, I guess I should stop ranting now considering this blog is almost double the length it’s supposed to be. Go Taoism!
I agree with what you said about the anxiety and stress Americans have from the burden of fulfilling our life plans. But it also makes me wonder what it would be like if we didn't plan anything at all! I guess there is some balancing to do there because without SOME planning the world we live in today might eat us alive. In ancient China i'm sure it was much easier to be aligned with the Tao.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that we need to stop planning actively for the future and we need to see/and do things as they come. Learning through experiences and mistakes makes us who we are today. Besides we have no way to guarantee anything from happening which means that planning for the future isn't practical.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that we shouldn't have general plans for the future, like maybe an idea for a career, but I don't think that we should have planned for the color of our career, our living room furniture in our 1st house, our kids names, our dogs names, etc. when we're in high school. Obviously you need some kind of plan so you can make good decisions everyday to reach that goal, but the focus should be on what to do in the present moment and the goal should be a general one.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the fact that you are keen to not dropping everything and being what I almost consider slightly reckless. Admittedly, Taoism seems like a fine religious perspective on life, however, I feel that a lot of satisfaction that goes into hard work could be lost. Then again, I feel the Bible and Taoism relate in some cases of the Ecclesiastes, "To everything there is a season." So in many senses it relates, but on a more broader perspective.
ReplyDeleteI grew up very similar to you in the sense that i never really thought about enjoying the moment as it came because i was so worried about all the hurdles and obstacles that lay ahead in life. I think now especially for kids it's a huge amount of pressure to get the highest school degree you can. My boyfriend is from Europe and he has all these amazing stories about taking the train for the weekend to the south of Spain when he was 16 and waking up the next day in France and so on. I was too busy filling out college applications and finding jobs to have amazing opportunities like these. I feel like a more taoist approach would embrace these times in your life to enjoy and to indulge and to embrace lifes little gifts and stop passing them by so quickly.
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