A tool makes life easier.
A practice makes life deeper.
I have already written about the difference between a practice and a tool and between problem solving and learning. Go read them, it will serve as a basis for the inquiries that follow.
Today I would like to ask: “Do we reach for something to fix, to solve, to make efficient? Or do we enter into a process of becoming, where the act itself transforms us?”
There might be a time to problem solve and there must be a time to learn and become.
We live in a time where using dominates. We use knowledge to win debates, use tools to accelerate tasks, use art to decorate spaces. When something, even someone, is “used for,” it is reduced just to a function. So let me ask: what is left of the thing itself? What is left of us?
When we practice, we are not extracting from the world, we are entering into dialogue with it.
My heart aches every time I read or hear of practices used as tools. Every time I see us calculating the return of investments and benefits for art, mindfulness, nature, etc… you get the idea.
We practice so we may evolve. It is not guaranteed. It is not about perfecting, nor about fixing. It is about engaging, entering into a dialogue, about relating and learning in a process that changes us as we change it.
To practice is to be with—with the uncertainty, with the discomfort, with the unfolding.
When we prioritise using over practicing, we may become efficient, but not whole or wise. Do we have the courage to step into the unquantifiable, the unmeasurable, the becoming?
Still struggling with the difference between Using and Practicing? Here some prompts to reflect and provoke:
1. What happens if you remove the outcome?
2. Are you transforming, or are you applying?
3. Are you treating something as a means or as a space for growth?
The way we engage with the world shapes who we become. Will we be just users, extracting what we need and moving on? Or will we become also practitioners, deepening our relationship with the things we do, and in turn, with ourselves?
WORK WITH ME
The true teachers of our time are not the loudest voices, but the ones who move with clarity and purpose. The ones who ask, What is the true cost of this path? and What else might be possible?
If that’s you—let’s find the answers together. Have a look at RNEWB services. Don’t be shy, reach out. For more info about my work have a look at RNEWB and all Artful-Programs.
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