What makes you do it?

“I am sooooo busy!”

“Are you sure?”

Verticality refers to that state which is not horizontal, when one is standing, waiting in line, running errands, attending functions.  Sitting in chairs is also considered a type of verticality especially if a desk is involved.

Much of what we “do” in the vertical realm is nothing more than what the horizontologist calls tending. These are the activities often performed through compulsion. Somehow we are forced into it either from outside sources (They’re expecting us!) or we are convinced in our minds we have to do it (It’s my job, it’s who I am!). Tending is the roundelay of everyday life that steals our time and attention and makes us believe we lead “full” lives. Somehow we were fooled into thinking that keeping busy is admirable.

“That’s life”, some say. We do, after all, have to go to the store to buy food. The dog needs walking and Uncle Jimmy needs to get to the pharmacy. But our chores can be greatly reduced if we examine what we are actually doing…and why.  Through the practice of Horizontology, the endless tending of life is minimized in two primary ways:

1. Deliberate Non-Action. This is the first pillar of Horizontology. Choose to stop. Get off the merry-go-round. Get out of the rat race. Cancel your plans. Find intention.

2. Mindfulness. This is the second pillar. Necessary tending — those things you really do have to do — can be transformed through a special mental focus on action or performance of a task. Do you give the task remembrance?

Later, I will tell you about some of the techniques in Horizontology to reduce tending. How do you reduce the static in your life, the endless things you seemingly just have to do, the daily existence you will not remember? Also, I will talk more about mindfulness!