Thoughts on unperforming
Every domain has its own performance trap waiting.
I avoid using the word performance.
“It’s not a performance” became the most popular AI-generated line for anything nondual-related. At least, it feels that way. I read it all the time.
But performing still shows up everywhere. Maybe not in our writing anymore. But what about when you press record? What about when you’re about to share something in a new group?
You might feel a slight tightening. The need to sound right or to be useful. To justify the space you’re taking up.
That’s performing in its purest form. And it kills whatever wanted to move through you.
I know I’d feel it too sometimes, the moment I think I need to say something worth recording.
It’s always the trying that creates the performance. Undoing erases the one who tries, which shows up in nearly every domain:
Unwriting: When the writer steps out of the way, the book you carry can finally be freed.
Unspeaking: When there’s no one trying to be good at speaking, speaking happens on itself. The speaker dissolves.
Unmarketing: When there’s no one trying to market well, things spread naturally.
Uncoaching: When there’s no one trying to be the expert, the most natural and effective guidance moves through.
Uncreating: When there’s no one trying to create valuable content, something valuable suddenly appears.
Unperforming is what’s left when we stop trying to be someone. The work does itself. We just get out of the way with whatever we do, so that the doing without the do-er remains.
This doesn’t mean avoiding personal stories and struggles. It means not making ourselves so central that we distract from what wants to move through.
In two weeks, my book 'The Art of Unwriting' will be released. Want to get notified as soon as it's available? Send me a direct message with 'Be notified' and I'll let you know as soon as it can be downloaded.
