Published:
August 1, 2023
Originally recorded:
September 3, 2022
Today’s message is about non-time. How much time do you give to doing nothing at all?
Usually we’re running from one thing to the next. We have this responsibility and that responsibility. We’re so busy thinking and doing that we don’t allow ourselves to be and it’s in the being that all of the magic happens.
Today I want you to follow the signs and do nothing at all, not nothing at all but take time for non-time. That place where maybe you love to bake, go for a walk, lay in the grass and just allow yourself to sit and be. To be so that other things that are meant to come to you, your intuition, ideas, what’s next, a solution in your business or something in your relationship, whatever you need to solve that happens in the non-time.
Yesterday, I asked you to choose 3 areas of focus where you want to improve your self-parenting and journal ways that you could do so. I also asked you to identify ways you already show yourself care and want to do more of this year.
As a compliment to these other goals, I also want to introduce you to the concept of “non-time.”
Many of Einstein’s greatest ideas came to him while bobbing along the water in his 23’ sailboat on a breezeless afternoon. Contrary to popular opinion, Steve Jobs was an exceptional procrastinator, given to daydreaming and seemingly absent noodling on ideas that would revolutionize work and play. Both excelled in the field of idea incubation, utilizing something researchers have come to call non-time.
After a long, stressful day, many of us crave and give ourselves a bit of downtime, but too often, when our to-do list is too long, we don’t schedule enough time for rest and doing, well, nothing. In our always-on society, rest gets a bad rap. Work, family, and social demands often make us feel guilty about doing nothing. But I want to reframe that and talk about how scheduling and honoring our “non-time” is a critical part in our self-parenting journey.
Of course, the kabbalists have been familiar with this idea for thousands of years. Every Friday at sundown begins the time known as Shabbat, and it concludes with the setting of the sun on Saturday evening. Kabbalists explain that on Shabbat, the spiritual and physical worlds are united and the Light flows for us throughout the entire day. Now you may be asking yourself what spiritual work you must do to connect to this Light of Shabbat. Paradoxically, rest! Yes, the kabbalists teach that our work on Shabbat is to desist, to quiet our worries from the workweek, set aside our phones, and simply be–with our friends, our family, and our thoughts.
What the kabbalists, Einstein, and Steve Jobs all understood is that our downtime is often when we do our best thinking and problem-solving. We are better, more creative, and more in tune with the universe and our place in it when we allow ourselves the room to unplug.
So, as we wrap our focus on self-parenting and schedule our new routines, I want to emphasize the importance of scheduling non-time in our calendar as well. Send yourself an invitation to do nothing—and when you get the reminders, your inner parent will be smiling right along with you.
I believe that you can, and you will take the best care of yourself in the days and weeks ahead. After all, Mother (and Father) always knows best!
One of the great gifts in studying Kabbalah is that we become more aware of the energies around us. Each day, week, and month has its own unique energy with differing powers that inform us. This month of Virgo is one of the most consequential months of the year, full of the energy of deep transformation. Over the next 30 days, we will assess, evaluate, and rethink 10 of the most important areas of your life. First, we will look at what is working and what isn’t working. I will help you identify your desire – the thing that you really want for that area of your life–not the thing you only think you want, or think you should want, or what others think you should want. From there, you will make your plan. You’ll make it actionable, doable, and motivating. I’m so excited and grateful that you are all joining me on this journey to rethink, reframe, recalibrate, and re-energize your life.