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Take the Next Right onto Via Negativa
Getting Out of the Sea of More
On a balmy summer day many years ago, I was sitting in a café when an old acquaintance (no, this isn’t me) walked by and joined me. After the usual small talk, he announced that he wanted to get fit and take up running. “It’s so easy, and I can do it anywhere in the world.” As a passionate amateur runner, I could only agree.
Two weeks later, I ran into him again and asked how his first runs had gone. He hadn’t gotten around to it yet, he said. He was still researching the right shoes. A few weeks after that, he explained that, given his weight, cycling would probably be easier on his body. Now he was comparing bikes.
By then, he hadn’t run a single step. Nor had he cycled, swum, or climbed.
My acquaintance had lost his way in his little rowboat on the Sea of More. I know those waters well; I’ve capsized there many times myself. Whenever I faced a problem or set a new goal, my first reflex was to add something. Buy a book, download an app, sign up for a course, do a bit of research. No, make that a lot more research. It feels good because it looks like action. To paraphrase Descartes: I do something, therefore I am.
This reflex has actually been proven. In 2021, researchers at the University of Virginia showed in the journal…
