The true struggle is to do nothing, to remain open without your internal narratives.

Procrastination (doing nothing) is active self-harm, replete with self-centered worrying. To truly do nothing is to lose self-concern. It is closer to a negation of noise or depletion of ego: it is the space in which you can open up before your instinctual response closes you back down.

To subvert our striving or anxiety in order to clearly hear another requires a stance of ready reception: a negative effort, as Simone Weil calls it.