Someone encouraged me to “follow the ease” a few years back. I don’t remember who but it was something I took to heart. I’ve been trying to figure out what it meant and how to apply it to my life ever since. But, after much consideration and analysis, I’ve come to the conclusion that I disagree with the idea completely. Here’s why.
What does it mean to follow the ease?
Ease can be a noun or verb depending on usage and, in the case above, I see a noun. Therefore, here’s the definition straight from Google:
Ease
noun
1. freedom from labor, pain, or physical annoyance; tranquil rest; comfort: to enjoy one’s ease.
2. freedom from concern, anxiety, or solicitude; a quiet state of mind.
Thus, I take “follow the ease” to mean that you should go where you’re free from labor or pain, both physical and mental. To trust what comes easily. To follow the path of least resistance.
To make sure I was getting the concept, I asked some friends what “follow the ease” meant to them. One told me it meant that you should “act from a place of peace.” Another said to “go with the flow.” Still another suggested that ease was more of a mindset whereby you strive to be at ease with yourself despite what’s going on in your life.
And one last posted a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson as explanation: “You are like a ship in a river; you run against obstructions on every side but one; on that side all obstruction is taken away and you sweep serenely over God’s depths into infinite sea.”
Ok, have we got a handle on what it means to follow the ease? I don’t know about you but I’m taking the message pretty literally: To follow the path of least resistance.
Why following the ease is limiting
Many things in my life have come easily. School was easy and, frankly, so was college. Starting my photography business was easy. But moving my business to California wasn’t easy. Neither was launching Art Aligned. Doors didn’t open naturally as if I was drifting down a river of rightness.
Does that mean I was on the wrong path? Maybe. Or maybe it means I wasn’t applying myself, that I didn’t try hard enough.
Was the Universe trying to tell me something? That it was a bad time for my offerings or perhaps that my heart was no longer in what I was doing and I should stop?
These are all questions I’ve asked myself to better understand this “follow the ease” concept.
You might say that I’m misinterpreting, that it really means to follow your interests or to allow life to unfold on its own schedule. Well, if that’s true, then I think ease is a misnomer.
Perhaps by “follow the ease,” what people really mean is follow your passions. Or find your flow, the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter, as defined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
I agree with both of the latter. I wholeheartedly believe that we’ll live our happiest, most authentic lives by finding something that we love to do and doing it as often as we can. But—and here’s the real rub with this ease concept—you still have to work for it. Not every day is going to be a picnic and boat ride.
By taking the idea of “follow the ease” literally, I could simply make a wish and sit around all day watching tv, waiting for it to come true. That’s too passive, too easy, and likely not to result in my deepest wishes or goals coming true.
So I say to heck with following the ease. Try this instead:
Agree, disagree, or think I’m being overly semantic? Tell me why in the comments.
Cheers,
Kate Watson - As far as ease goes, I like your notion of “living with ease,” Corinne. However, I have trouble believing that “following the ease” is the same thing.
corinne - Yeah, I resonate with “ease was more of a mindset whereby you strive to be at ease with yourself despite what’s going on in your life” Because life gets shitty and life gets awesome. if you are not at ease with where you are at, you’ll be more shitty or more awesome. Seems less balanced. But then again, what do I know? 😉