Plenty of Nothing | Catherine Viel

By Catherine Viel, October 28, 2021

(Golden Age of Gaia)

October 27, 2021

Oh, I got plenty o’ nuttin’
And nuttin’s plenty for me…
‘Cause de things dat I prize
Like de stars in de skies
All are free…
~George Gershwin, I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ (from Porgy and Bess)



There are so many things to write about! Why doesn’t one of them visit me for a nice little chat?

I don’t order myself to write on any sort of schedule. That would not work well since I rebel at taking orders even from myself.

I seem to spend a lot of time in a daze, but out of that daze sentences often emerge and want to be followed by more sentences.

This is what I am pleased to call my writing process. I don’t mess with it, and I feel amply rewarded by whatever articles want to come into the light of day through it.

This morning, I got nothing. So I’m writing about having nothing.

*****

So much has been taken from us, and so much more is in line to disappear—let’s take away people’s jobs, let’s keep dividing families and friends!—but what they forget is they can’t separate us from ourselves.



Only we can do that.

There are so many distractions available to us, some more harmful than others, we can choose amongst them like spinning a wheel and throwing a dart. Our choices often seem random even though surely all is karmic balancing of one sort or another.

Many major distractions are necessary simply in order to live on this planet. Most of us need a job or paying occupation so we can afford housing and food.

For a big chunk of the world populace, that is all there’s energy for. Basic survival.

If we have time and resources, though, there are many additional ways we can distract ourselves and blur our connection with our innermost selves.

When we become aware enough to deliberately set aside those discretionary distractions, what do we end up with?

Nothing. Or everything. Depending on your point of view.

*****



I only watched the TV show Seinfeld a few times; I never understood its appeal. What jumped to mind now, though, thinking about “nothing,” was that it has been described as a show about nothing.

Perhaps in some sense, right now, we are participating in a show about nothing.

All the upheaval and unpleasantness, the fear being generated, the confusion—is it all leading us to a point of quiet nothingness?

Will we be freed from having to do work that doesn’t fulfill us simply to survive? The worldwide distribution of abundance that is supposed to be waiting in the wings appears designed to do just that, free us in more ways than we can visualize.



Such freedom could lead to tremendous, unanticipated bounties, including a blessedly blank mind.

Will we be able, if we so desire, to sit around staring at nothing, in a nonproductive daze, perhaps morphing into daydreams that become building blocks for a future we can’t quite imagine?

Sometimes having plenty of nothing is an amazing abundance all its own.

May we welcome that emptiness with open arms, surprise, and delight.