There’s always something more you need to be doing.

Whether it’s buying, plucking, watching, fixing or changing, this message seems to be everywhere. It’s in advertising – to be expected – and it’s also in religion and self-help and work. “To-dos” serve as an undercurrent of our cultural creed, a result of our evolutionary drive, perhaps. We knowwe/life/work/our future can be better and so we create a plan to make it happen.

I’m a life coach. I get paid, in part, because people believe this message. They believe there’s always something more to be doing. And so do I. Sometimes.

And sometimes I think it’s a load of crap. Life isn’t about constantly evolving into something else. Life is about becoming more authentic, more basic. It’s often about devolving.

Of course, the items on our to-do lists sometimes help us do that. More often, they don’t. They lead us down a path of over-consumption, greed, busyness and stress. In short, they make life less sustainable.

This blog will be about many things, I am sure. I am also sure I will be circling around this theme of sustainability. What is a sustainable life? How does it get created? What gets in the way?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Until then (and in the spirit of guest blogging), I offer a quote by Thich Nhat Hanh from his book The Art of Power:

“Look at a tree in the front yard: the tree doesn’t seem to do anything. It just stands there, vigorous, fresh and beautiful, and everyone benefits from it. This is the miracle of being. If a tree is less than a tree, all of us will be in trouble. If a tree can be a real tree, there is hope, there is joy.”