For a long time, I’ve been told my “eyes are bigger than my stomach.” As a kid, that desire for more than I could actually take in meant a tendency to overfill my plate(s). But a FOMO-related, big-eyed desire to try it all continues to lurk in every part of me.
I have trouble being satisfied with just one thing. Large menus are dangerous territory: I want it if it looks yummy, if it smells good, if the presentation is beautiful, colorful, interesting. But it goes way beyond food. I like pretty things, new things, things that someone else has; Things that aren’t even things but seem useful - like talents, experiences, skills. And my appetite really is for more than I can handle, because I yearn for tidiness as well as creative mess; I wish for big jobs alongside leisure-filled rhythms. I want to try ALL the places. It’s not exactly gluttony, but I am constantly tempted to More.
Do you feel that way sometimes? Chasing More? Wishing you could legitimately order everything on the menu? Because, what if you miss the best dish? What if there is not enough time to taste and savor, and experiment and experience, and accomplish and achieve it All?
I have news for you…I mean, me.
There isn’t.
Photo by Stéphan Valentin on Unsplash
Society forever and always pushes a narrative that justifies wanting or deserving all of it. Advertising and all the medias lean in hard to promise the possibility.
But even the richest, most varied life won’t have room for everything we want. And sometimes the tastes and experiences we don’t ask for are the ones that most significantly color our stories. It would help if, sooner rather than later, we came to terms with the basic boundaries of our humanity.
Since about every third entry in my morning journal this year features some variation on the idea of overwhelm, I’m reminding myself to think less about More and more about Enough.
Because actually, Enough is where the Magic lies.
It is possibility married with satisfaction. Instead of the buffet plate filled with so many flavors that each individual taste loses meaning, it is savoring one new taste and remembering it. Rather than reaching for all the things but having insufficient time to enjoy them, it’s making the most of what you have here and now.
To experience Enough, we need to leave space in the fuzzy edges of our self-determination to see the Magic. It’s not going to be easy.
But it’s better than the alternative Yikes!
This week I received a frightening analysis of modern culture from music critic and historian, Ted Gioia:
I think we could replace that tiny ART fish with “thoughtful analysis” or “facts” or “authentic emotion,” because it often seems none of those things are Enough any more, not just for Silicon Valley, but for the insatiable appetites of our non-stop culture. No wonder Enough is a rarity.
But when, as simplicity and self-fulfillment gurus suggest:
“Enough is a decision, not an amount.” Alison Faulkner
it’s the growing edge for a better perspective. May you find your own Enough
This resonates deeply with me - I, too, need to tell myself 'enough is enough'. And to appreciate that enough IS where the magic lies.