« Needing nothing attracts everything »
Mantra Magazine
This is highly debatable and as I read and re read it, I realize it completely.
But that is maybe also why I chose to write about it, it’s challenging. Maybe it means something…maybe not…what if?
My first thought was about the notion of “nothing”. How can I qualify it: as good or as bad?
Nothing could mean “virgin”, as in a non-planted field: possibilities are everywhere, anything grow out of this…nothing.
Then, of course, there is the bad part: emptiness with no open doors to fulfillment Just an arid land in which nothing would take roots.
There lies the challenge, the thing that triggered me and made me go beyond the obvious interpretation, which would be: nothing is being poor, of mind and of means.
I choose to see it as rich because the possibilities are infinite.
Then I come to the “attraction” part. It’s a tricky one in my head because as I read the quote over and over again, my ideas shifted all the time, and I am now trying to fix them so that they make sense to me in a way I could explain it to someone as my point of view.
I had this phrase: attraction as in “comes to” naturally or as in “pulled by” something in particular.
I am trying during this analysis to avoid the dictionary definition of the word attraction
Attraction, in this case, is opening to something, not being blocked by pre made assumptions which are often fake. That “something” doesn’t have to bear a name, doesn’t have to be a particular thing, because focusing on it can render blind.
So I guess it all comes to being opened to anything.
This, of course, doesn’t mean ignoring one’s needs, that would be dangerous as we must listen to our body and mind and give them the necessary elements in order for them to develop.
But what if we went beyond “needing” and we imagined the “would like to have/see/experience”?
As I see it, this is what this quote means: leaving aside the basic needs, could open the door to an infinite panel of choices that come from…nothing. No name attached, no related expectation. Just an open mind and letting things come into shape as we go along.
I am fully aware that this can make no sense when said like this. Planning, anticipating, preparing, those are concepts that we apply on a daily basis because we must be prepared. This world has become so complicated that we have to protect ourselves and create paths that match every possible situation. So this means that we already have at least one approach for each scenario. That doesn’t sound very “sane” if you ask me. It’s logical, yes, it’s appropriate, it takes intelligence to apply. But it also takes most of our bandwith so what is there left to imagination? How can we actually welcome the possibilities that a “nothing” offers if we prepare for everything? The nothing is seen as a negative thing, as I was saying at the beginning, something to be afraid of, and I get why. Our days must be full, our agendas must have no big gaps (except for sleeping), we’re in the spinning wheel and getting of it leaves us like a puppet with no strings.
I’m the first to say that the “nothing” scares me. But I also know that what I need are things that I cannot have easily, so I find it difficult to put potential into the “nothing”. I need a loving environment and a family that gives me the ground on which I can relax and unwind. I don’t have that, I only have me and that means that I cannot go beyond the need. I’m not the only one, I’m sure
The more I think of it, the more I realize that this quote’s meaning, as rich as it is, can only be applied if we already are at a certain personal level. It’s almost a luxury to say: I have what I need, I can now relax and imagine all the possibilities that an unplanned day can bring to me.