I think I’m a sucker for “_____ is the new _____” statements. Sixty is the new fifty. Orange is the new black.
From this morning, perusing my iPhone music, waiting for my flight to take off, I ran across an album by Ben Lee entitled, Awake is the New Sleep.
Hmmm. When I think sleep, I think rest, rejuvenation, essential physical need, a natural response to fatigue.
Now transfer those qualities on to awake. Nice, right.
Feeling rested by being awake to the world. Feeling rejuvenated in awareness. Feeling invigorated by learning, making connections, creating new associations. The gist is leaning in, not out.
I think of awareness and awakeness as a key part of our job descriptions of being human. There are the things we do. And, it is important to do those well. That’s most likely what most of us spend most of our time on.
Then there’s the awake part. Oh ya, paying attention to surprise. Being capable of not freaking out in uncertainty. Daring to let go of the habitual numbing that many of us have.
The particular song from the album is called, We Are All In This Together. I got it a few years ago from a friend and colleague, Marty Kurtz, when co-hosting an event for forward thinking financial planners. The song is worth a listen too.