Thanks for joining me around this fire where we can talk and share ideas.
Take a moment to arrive,
Let your shoulders drop and just relax.
This story is a little different from most of the stories I tell here.
It's a Persian fable,
Very old,
Very simple and it's about a moth.
But it's really about something I think a lot of us recognise.
The compulsion to keep going,
The inability to stop,
The strange way we can be drawn toward the very thing that burns us out.
So if you're cosy and you're ready,
Let's begin.
A moth spent every night circling a flame,
Around and around,
Closer and closer,
Drawn by the light in a way it could not explain or resist.
One night,
An old moth who had lived longer than most settled beside it and watched.
Why do you circle?
The old moth asked.
Because of the light,
Said the young moth,
I have to be near it.
And does the circling bring you peace?
The young moth paused.
No,
It admitted,
But I can't seem to stop.
The old moth was quiet for a moment.
Then it said,
The flame is beautiful.
I'm not saying otherwise,
But have you ever tried simply resting in its warmth?
Rather than chasing its centre.
The young moth landed,
Just landed,
And felt the warmth without the circling.
And for the first time in as long as it could remember,
It felt still.
There is a version of ambition,
Of drive,
Of productivity that looks like purpose from the outside,
But feels like compulsion from the inside.
A restlessness that keeps us circling,
Always in motion,
Never quite landing.
We live in a culture that celebrates the circling,
But calls it passion,
That rewards it with approval.
And so the question of why we can't stop becomes very difficult to answer honestly.
But the body knows the difference between engagement and depletion,
Between presence and performance,
Between doing something because it feeds you and doing it because you're afraid of what stillness might reveal.
Rest isn't the absence of purpose,
It's where purpose gets replenished.
The moth didn't lose the flame by landing,
It finally felt it.
What would it mean for you to stop circling,
Just for tonight,
To let the warmth find you instead of the other way around?
If rest feels hard right now,
If landing feels unfamiliar,
My sleep music are a gentle way to begin.
Moonlight Calm,
Zero Gravity Sleep Soundscape and others are all there on Insight Timer,
Designed to help you stop circling and finally feel the warmth.
I'd love to help you rest,
But in any case I'll keep this fire burning until next time.
Take care of yourself and I'll see you soon.
