@basilesamel wrote something interesting about how over-ritualizing his work held him back:

I have a problem. I tend to sacralize my work. I overthink my goals, tasks, habits, and objectives, to generate some sort of meaning from it all. I lock myself in imaginary contracts with my users, and sometimes myself….Truth is, no one is expecting anything grandiose from me. My work is not more important than someone else’s. It’s liberating. I’m free to let my creativity run wild. I’m free to live my life the way I desire.

For some, realising that “nobody is expecting anything grandiose from me” is a scary thought. That means nobody cares! *wallows in rejection and exile. There’s nothing like feeling alone on an island. Humans being social creatures, we crave belonging and feedback from our groups, and when nobody cares, it can feel like we’re exiled from our tribe.  

But if you can perceive it the other way - “Nobody cares! Yaaaay! I can do whatever I want!” - that can in turn feel so freeing, isn’t it? Because sometimes the flip side happens - we know in our deepest desires that we want to do something, but self-imposed expectations and social norms of others hold us back. When we realise nobody cares other than our own self, we can then give ourselves permission to go on and do that one thing.

Context matters, of course. But I can bet, we worry more about the first interpretation of “Nobody cares” more than the second one. I do, at least.

Just like how I talked about giving myself permission to not be or do something, I think, this mantra “Nobody cares. Yaay!” could be a complementary one to that.

I’m going to try saying it more often this month! :)