The Power Of Non-doing

This is from an essay called “Zen and the Art of Wife Maintenance.” It’s quite funny with lines like this:

“I met Hannah back in Austin, and after dating for a year she moved into my yurt.
It was a little like watching a flower open in time-lapse. The yurt acquired hard walls, a hard roof, a sink and shower, hot water, a cactus garden. She drove me mercilessly to clean up the mess and I picked up my stuff and stowed it under the yurt….A year passed, and in that time Hannah by dint of pure effort had transformed the yurt into a lovely home…

…She was beaming, and I thought once again about how powerful non-doing can be. Not only did I get rid of the Subaru by ignoring it and going climbing every spare moment for an entire year, I also got Hannah exactly what she wanted for her birthday.
The river of life flows on, and the to-do lists pile up on the surface like little boats. The mothers of the world will make sure everything gets done.”