Three friends are out for a walk on a country road, and they spot a guy randomly just standing at the top of a hill. They’re trying to figure out what he’s doing up there.
One of the friends says, “Well, maybe he’s just looking for some stray cattle.”
Another one says, “Maybe he’s lost his travel companion, and he’s trying to spot him from up on the hill.”
The third friend says, “Perhaps he’s up there just trying to catch a nice breeze.”
Eventually, they walk up and ask, “Hey man, what are you doing up here? Are you looking for your stray cattle? Trying to find a friend? Catching a nice breeze?
And the guy looks back at them and says, “No, I’m just standing on a hill.”
We have become so conditioned to believe that everything should mean something or be a means to some end. That we should be productive. That we should be doing something. That there’s a goal attached to everything.
And maybe that goal is just satisfaction, but there’s always a reason.
I think we would be much happier if we just carved out some time in our days for nothing. And I don’t mean doom scrolling or other brain rot activities.
I mean absolutely nothing.
Nowhere to be.
No one to be.
Just there to be.
(The hill story is inspired by and adapted from Dean Sluyter’s amazing book The Zen Commandments.)
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