I watched a guy eat oatmeal for close to an hour the other day.
I was at a café working, writing, having a coffee, the usual. A guy sat next to me on the couch. He looked like a serious nomadic traveler, with a big duffel bag and a backpacking backpack. He ordered a coffee and an oatmeal.
He took close to an hour to eat it. No phone, no book, no friend to talk to, no podcast, no headphones. Just him, his oatmeal and his coffee.
Meanwhile I was writing, editing videos, answering messages, listening to music and drinking my coffee, all at once. Always rushing, always multitasking.
The last couple of months I've noticed how much smoother life is when we only do one thing, or even nothing at all. Lying in the grass, lying in bed, walking. Letting the mind drift off into that peace.
I don't know what he was going through. Maybe something tough, and that's why he was staring at the wall. But watching someone do the thing I overthink all the time really struck me.
It's also why I think we get our best ideas in the shower. It's one of the last places that's still free of all distractions. 10 minutes of just nothing.
So that's my takeaway from the guy eating oatmeal: I want to keep giving myself room for nothingness.
