Summary

The article "You Are Allowed to Just Be and with Your Pen and Paper, Commune and Tune" by Jenny Lane emphasizes the importance of being present and embracing the moment without the need for constant action or purpose.

Abstract

Jenny Lane reflects on the lost art of simply 'being' in a world that often prioritizes doing over existing. She recounts her experiences in the Netherlands, where the culture emphasizes balance and the value of life beyond work. Lane argues that humans are not meant to be perpetually busy and that rest is often wrongly associated with laziness. Drawing from her personal life, she advocates for a return to the essence of being human, which includes embracing moments of stillness, learning, and interbeing with the universe. She also touches on the joy and transformation that can come from setting memories out in the open and the power of human narration in storytelling. The article culminates in a call to action for writers and readers alike to engage with life and narratives in a way that promotes healing, love, and unity.

Opinions

The author suggests that society has forgotten the value of simply existing without the need for constant productivity or having an opinion on everything.
She challenges the notion that one must earn the right to live through purpose or judgment, comparing human beings to tree beings and squirrels that exist without these conditions.
Lane criticizes the guilt associated with rest and the competitive nature of overworking, contrasting this with the Dutch perspective that prioritizes life and family over work.
She expresses a personal philosophy of continuous learning and growth, rejecting the idea of ever becoming a 'master' who no longer needs to learn.
The author emphasizes the importance of 'interbeing' with the universe and suggests that being present and engaged is a form of action in itself.
She believes that human narrations add depth and connection to storytelling, and advocates for the prioritization of human narration on Medium.
Lane concludes with the idea that writers have the power to change the world through their words, encouraging a collective return to the 'Nowisms' of being human.

Nowism

You Are Allowed to Just Be and with Your Pen and Paper, Commune and Tune

Sometimes, my piece of paper, my pen and I just commune and tune into the Universe. Nowhere to be, no words needed to write. Just here, feeling the breeze and the morning mist flowing through the tree beings.

Letters to just live in this moment of existence for no other purpose but to be. We can be like these letters too, just living in this moment of existence for no other purpose now, but to be.

Isn’t it curious us human beings have forgotten how to be?

We “must” have opinions on everything. I know I do. But must we?

We “must” have a purpose to have the right to live. Really? Does a tree being need that?

We “must” have a judgment to feel worthy. Does a squirrel judge another squirrel?

We “must” nothing!

We need not be busy to the point of escaping our being — our human being needs us here and now — whenever this is possible. We can do what needs to be done, yet we need to also be whilst we live.

If you aren’t being just as much as you are doing, you end up running in place. And not the fun running man dance. Anyone remember that one?

We aren’t called human doings.

Rest is wrapped up in guilded guilt. Being is “lazy”. I know not one person who wants to be called lazy. And here we are one-upping each other by working ourselves out of ourselves.

When I lived in the Netherlands, if you mentioned working overtime (to which there are laws) they’d offer you pity, not congratulations for working so much. You were missing out on parts of life, and parts of your loved ones lives.

The Dutch aren’t giving you a medal, or a pat on the back for zombie burnout. The Dutch tune is the value of family. And they certainly know how to be who they are, so unapologetically.

Eight years I lived in the Netherlands. And haven’t written much about my experience there beyond the painful moments.

I will someday.

I just needed to set free the memories which were getting moldy in the corners of my mind. I had to set all these memories out in the blazing sun for other hearts to see. To transform them into something bright and beautiful. Let them bleach out in the sun, and let them just be.

I have many moldy memories. But now my nose is very sensitive to mold. I can smell moldy memories trapped in old crevasses — mine and others.

Time to get out in the sun!

I cannot extract that pain from someone. I am no doctor. Or professional mold remover.

I am no expert in anything. For it will take a lifetime of being for expertise.

I am no master. Because I will never stop learning.

No master of any craft, or profession.

Yet, I am a curious lover of learning. I’d much rather be a student, than think I’ve reached some level where I need no longer learn.

My learning will be a lifelong pursuit.

Learn as if you are immortal.

I am a student of life. I am a student of humanity. I am a being of humanness. A spiritual life form, a human existing with this pen in the sublime moment.

All I can do is be, interbe with existence.

There is nothing I “must” do, in this moment, but live right now as a human being.

Being in action.

Being IS an action.

A human being in action.

I can live it carrying my pain heavy, or I can live it light embracing the joys, of the verbs of life, even with pain.

My favorite of the verbs:

Love.

I can be love.

I can be compassion.

I can be peace.

I can also be a messy human writing these letters into existence.

So, maybe we can all get back to the Nowisms of being, human being.

Together in peace.

Together listening to the interbeing with the Universe. For we are also this Universe, loving being.

We are not only Earth walking — we are the Universe walking.

As Alan Watts says,

“We do not ‘come into’ this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean ‘waves,’ the universe ‘peoples.’ Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.”

So let us all begin to heal. Love one another and ourselves the best we know how.

And us writers, what we have is our paper, our pens and our ability to sit in communion for the reverence of life — every time we set letters upon the page, in courage, for all to see.

We writers can change our world in every letter of being.

And all we need to do is be.

Interbe in unity.

With radical love,

Jenny Lane

🌈💜

~namaste~

Important Note about authors who personally take the extra time to narrate our pieces here on Medium:

As of now, our human narrations are NOT calculated into our read time earnings. (Ai narration listening is, human narrations bypass any earnings) So if you listen, it would be a great help to us if you could also scroll through/read along. Thank you for listening!

Dear Tony Stubblebine,

Could we please make human narrations a priority here on Medium in 2023? It would be a wonderful gift for us. Hearing the human heart behind the words brings all of our hearts closer together in humanity. And good gracious do we need this. ❤

Nowism

You Are Allowed to Just Be and with Your Pen and Paper, Commune and Tune

Nowisms

Here is a place where we can be fully present and write our nows into existence

Nowisms by Jenny Lane

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