Notes

There is something deeply natural in us: it feels good to share what has happened to us, and it feels good to offer the other half of a biscuit to someone close to us. I have seen this in very young children, and I see it just as clearly, regardless of age, in adults who have remained open to the world around them.

Not knowing is our natural state. As children, the openness that comes from not knowing helps us discover the world. You and I are born explorers… and yet by the time we reach adulthood — largely because of our experiences at school — not knowing has become associated with a great deal of anxiety and frustration. And yet there are so many different ways to experience it.

What happens to us the moment we start calling something a task? For a long time, for me it came with rushing, tension and the feeling that I had to prove something: that I was important. Slowly, I began to realise that perhaps this was exactly what I needed to let go of.

I haven’t lived my life inside a bubble, and today I see the losses, failures, dead ends and pain that brought me to who I am now as some of the greatest gifts I could have received.

Lately, every morning before sunrise, I’ve been going down to the coast to practise qigong. There is something very special about the atmosphere and energy of these early morning sessions, and I have grown to love them deeply.