the continuation concept
I recently looked at my notes on the enlightening book "The French Art of Not Trying Too Hard" by Ollivier Pourriol. I haven't looked at these quotes that I wrote down in quite a while. I keep a running list in Notion of favorite quotes from books I've read in order to remember, apply, and meditate on.
The concept of continuation appeals to me, especially it being a francophone one. I adore French culture. This one idea of starting and continuing. It's not a separate idea. The first part is to continue, the second to start.
Ollivier Pourriol expresses it beautifully in the following words:
“Here they are: “The whole doctrine of action can be expressed in two chapters, each of which contains a single word. Chapter one, continue. Chapter two, start. The order, which people find surprising, expresses almost the whole idea.” Two words: continue, start. In this order: one idea. You just have to continue, rather than start.”
For example, I've tried things out. I don't start them again at the bottom as one big thing, I just continue with what I was doing [the action of doing appeared first in my mind and I am resuming what I decided to do].
The reason why this point is so potent is because we already know what to do! We humans make it so hard on ourselves by trying to get the motivation and willpower to start something. Action appears to us as a herculean effort.
By contrast, continuing is an effortless & natural movement.
It's the art of not trying too hard.