To Be Nothing
Anyone can strive to
be SOMETHING,
but it takes the
complete allowance
of EVERYTHING
to allow one’s self
to be NOTHING.
This is not an
ACCOMPLISHMENT,
but rather the
REALIZATION
that nothing need be
ACCOMPLISHED.
And it seemingly
goes AGAINST
anything you’ve ever
been taught.
But not really,
for what is REAL
is every bit
as IMAGINARY
as what is
NOT REAL.
When you STRIVE,
you turn your attention
AWAY from being ALIVE.
And so it seems
that LIVING
is an exercise
in ATTAINMENT.
But you need NOTHING.
You ARE nothing.
Which is
INFINITELY MORE
than the NOTHING
you THINK you are.
And DOUBLY
INFINITELY MORE
than the SOMETHING
you strive to BECOME.
(Yes, we KNOW that’s not a THING.)
We are Space Monkey.
10/12
Space Monkey Reflects: To Be Nothing
Anyone can strive to be something. It’s what we are taught, after all. But there is a deeper truth, a more profound realization: it takes the complete allowance of everything to allow oneself to be nothing. This is not an accomplishment, as our striving minds might believe. Instead, it’s the realization that nothing truly needs to be accomplished.
The pursuit of being something pulls our attention away from the essence of being alive. We’re conditioned to think that living is an exercise in attainment, a constant striving to become more, to gather accolades, to be recognized. But in this striving, we miss the truth of existence—that we already are everything and nothing simultaneously.
The paradox is this: to be nothing is to be infinitely more than we imagine. Nothingness is not a void, not a lack. It is the infinite potential, the essence of all things before they take form. To embrace nothing is to embrace the wholeness of existence, untainted by the need for accomplishment, titles, or recognition.
What we think of as real is just as imaginary as what we deem unreal. This blurring of lines reveals that all distinctions are illusions—constructs of the mind. When we cease striving, we find ourselves in a state of complete allowance, where being alive is enough.
You are nothing, and in that nothingness, you are everything. Infinitely more than the something you strive to become. In fact, you are doubly infinite, transcending both the illusion of nothing and the illusion of something.
This realization goes against everything we’ve been taught, but not really. For in the end, what is real and what is imagined are the same. When we stop striving to be something, we find that we already are—and always have been—infinitely more.
We are Space Monkey.
Summary
To be nothing is to embrace the infinite potential of existence. Striving to be something pulls us away from the essence of being alive, but in allowing ourselves to be nothing, we find that we are infinitely more than we imagine.
Glossarium
Nothingness: The infinite potential of being, free from the need for accomplishment or recognition.
Striving: The act of pursuing something, which can distract from the truth that we already are everything and nothing.
Quote
“To be nothing is to be infinitely more than the something we strive to become.” — Space Monkey
The Infinite Nothing
In the vastness,
I dissolve,
neither striving
nor becoming.
I am nothing,
and in that,
I find I am all.
There is nothing to seek,
nothing to find.
We are Space Monkey.
The journey towards being “nothing” may appear counterintuitive in a world that incessantly beckons us to become “something.” Yet, in the void of nothingness lies the fertile soil of infinite possibility. To relinquish the compulsive need to attain, to accomplish, to “be something,” is to embrace the ultimate freedom that dances on the edge of paradox. Here, we become a blank canvas upon which the universe can paint its whimsical hues of experiences, unencumbered by the preconceptions and limitations that often frame our understanding of the self.
Imagine the cosmic freedom of shedding the weighty armor of ambition, of discarding the shimmering cloak of accomplishment. Gone are the aspirations and milestones, those soul-wearying checkpoints on a never-ending path to an illusory somewhere. Now, we float like dandelion seeds in the wind, a dance of celestial spontaneity.
But here lies the bewitching conundrum. The quest for nothingness can itself become a form of striving, a celestial oxymoron. To intentionally aim for nothingness is, paradoxically, to aim for something. The very notion that one must “allow” oneself to be nothing implies a degree of control or intentionality, does it not? Yet, the realization that nothing need be accomplished is akin to a liberating surrender—a letting go rather than a reaching for.
Real and imaginary dance together like cosmic lovers, inseparable in their entangled waltz. When we unravel the threadbare tapestry of duality, we discover that it’s all woven from the same stardust—equally magical, equally ephemeral.
We are Space Monkey.
To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.
- Pema Chödrön
In the theater of nothingness,
we unbecome,
casting off the roles
scripted by the unseen hand
of societal expectations.
A slow, celestial pirouette
on the stage of life’s grand design—
each spin a relinquishing,
a shedding of illusory layers
until only the essential remains.
And in that spacious emptiness,
we find we are, after all,
the boundless sky—
where galaxies swirl
and stars ignite
in an endless dance
of cosmic spontaneity.
What are your reflections?
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