Oomph and yoyuu

I grew up on the advice of Ferris Bueller: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

The Japanese have a concept called yoyuu (pronounced yo-you). It indicates "room to spare".

Yoyuu is having extra time in the schedule - room for calm, care, and enjoyment. It's having extra resources (such as financial) or extra mental-emotional capacity to handle life's ups and downs in an effective and calm way.

Part of finding our energy / vitality / passion / inspiration / sense of beauty and wonder / mental clarity / compassion / hopefulness... (let's collectively call these our "oomph" for simplicity)

...Part of finding our oomph is creating space for it to arrive.

All other things being equal, oomph flows into us during times when we have yoyuu.

But it's what do we do next that's important.

When the oomph impulse arrives, do we have the freedom, the awareness, and (yes) the courage to follow it? Are we ready to jump into the task / the project / the relationship / the adventure / the solution?

Or do we ignore it? Oomph, when held inside, will fester into regret, discontent, restlessness, even physical illness.

Ok, so let's assume we follow the impulse.

While we started with room to spare (yoyuu), now a creative fever ensues, and there couldn't possibly be enough time in the day to express this rush of vitality - to get the project done / to get the idea down on paper / to fight for the cause / to really know the other person / to take in all the beauty and wonder that surrounds us.

Inspired action squeezes out yoyuu.

But it's what do we do next that's important.

When the fever begins to subside, do we have the patience, the sensibility, and (yes) the courage to let that moment go and find yoyuu again?

Real life has yoyuu and no yoyuu. Creating an effective and healthful ebb and flow, that's the art.