Hamster on a Wheel; The Busyness of Life; Spinning Plates; Unfocused Energy: We Went to Our 5 Wise for Their 5 Whys---for When its Pending
Marnie Alton
Fitness Pioneer + Innovator, Creator Of M/Body
I love this quote so much because it highlights the vital difference between just being busy and actually making real progress. For me, truly feeling alive is all about being present in each moment, connecting deeply with what you're doing, and not equating productivity with self-worth. This approach has always been at the core of how I choreograph and lead classes. When you bring that focused, present awareness to your body during exercise—feeling every muscle, tuning into your breath—you create a powerful mind-body connection. I love communicating WHY we’re doing a movement: how it is affecting or benefiting our body, where you should feel it, ways to explore physical shifts to increase that feeling. All of this mental work accelerates physiological benefits in a big way: improves proprioception, increases muscle activation and regulates your nervous system (just to name a few). It’s not about getting a workout done because you have to, it’s about celebrating that you ‘get to’ move your body. In today’s world, this idea hits hard. Social media constantly bombards us with the illusion of endless motion—the "hustle culture” we think defines success. But real action? It’s quieter, rooted in focused effort that builds true character, not just a highlight reel. We may be in motion, but are we really moving forward, or are we just trapped in a cycle of distraction—scrolling, tapping, responding without intention? It's like a digital hamster wheel that exhausts us without actually getting us anywhere. The noise of it all can drown out the real work, the deep focus that actually creates change. In the rush to "do more," it’s easy to lose sight of the question: Is this motion leading me where I want to go? It’s about shedding the excess, committing to actions that are in alignment with your deepest desires, and choosing focused, purposeful movement that transforms. That’s where true strength and joy is born.
www.mbodybymarniealton.com
DEGANIT NUUR
DACM, celebrity psychic, spiritual teacher, founder of Nuurvana Clairvoyant Healing Method
When read this quote, I pictured a hamster on a wheel; lots of exertion for no forward movement. It reminds me of workaholic, success-driven culture. I see so many clients accomplishing big, beautiful things, and it's almost like they get rewarded with more work to do. There's seldom a pause to reflect and celebrate on how far they've come. While they're doing wonderful things for the world, it's like they're losing themselves and their identity to these projects, and in many ways self-abandoning. It also reminds me of folks who keep busy to avoid facing the one thing that would inspire the greatest growth. These people will help you clean your house, volunteer locally, do anything and everything---but the one thing that would create the most impact in their lives. Spiritually speaking, it's almost like they're avoiding personal growth. Sometimes it's stillness that inspires the greatest action. Without a sacred pause in between, actions become somewhat meaningless. We're not put on this earth to simply go through the motions and live life on auto pilot. Our consciousness allows us to experience the whole universe in ecstatic motion, but to truly connect with that ecstatic motion, there must be stillness and connection within. This quote feels like a call for sustainability and mindfulness in our actions and behavior. Otherwise, we're just spinning our wheels and denying ourselves the profound growth that fosters a deeper connection with life itself.
DEBBie FRANK
ROYAL ASTROLOGER + SPIRITUAL COACH
From an astrological perspective, Mars is the planet of action: the force that galvanizes our willpower to do what we want or need to do. On the other hand, all the celestial bodies we look at in astrology are in motion; in constant movement in their cycles. The Moon with her stunning, waxing-and-waning, 29 day cycle, is the most obviously visible. Is the cosmos conscious of its motion? I believe the universe is a conscious, living force. The movements and motions of the planets are an ordered rhythm whilst the actions we take here on planet earth are of our own volition. We make choices which lead to action. In my decades-long experience of guiding and coaching people, I have often noticed that they use motion in order to avoid taking action. Motion implies they are busy, but the truth is they may be using some activities to distract themselves from focusing on the action they really need to take. Sometimes people just ‘go through the motions’ on autopilot as a hypnotic comfort zone of familiar routine. Taking action requires a firm decision. Whether it is something as small as working out, or a life-changing action such as getting married---the process of going ‘all in’ involves mind, body and spirit in coherent unison. I recognize some clients are also ‘doing nothing’, neither in motion, nor taking action, as a choice. It is a choice to postpone or push into the unconscious that which they cannot face at the time. In my work, I gently encourage them to examine why, and to bring to consciousness those things that are ‘pending’. I might also hold space for the client to be neither in motion or action so that they can just ‘be’; reflect on how they feel and their inner life, rather than being pulled into constant motion. These valuable times of reflection can offer the gift of insight which enables the right actions to be taken. For people at large, the entire ‘busyness’ of life, surrounded by more motion than ever before, impacts all of us. We are bombarded by the actions of others, for instance, through our hyper-connected world. We might need the motion of a familiar yoga pose to soothe us. We also need to look at what actions we can take together to make the world a better place.
www.debbiefrank.com
MICHELLE MURPHY
MEDIUM + GUIDE
'Spinning plates': I’ve used this term a lot to describe motion without focus to many of my clients. Busy inactivity is another way of putting it. There are times we are like whirling dervishes, stuck in inertia until that one plate tumbles, and everything shatters. Diminished, we find ourselves a little lost. The difference between wasted time and growth is often the difference between motion and action. If the goal were to simply entertain, even spinning plates now-shattered, would have had meaning beyond dusty clutter. In the work of spiritual intuitive guidance, motion seems to be the distracting and numbing counterpoint to action and real growth. Too much planning; too much motivational podcast-listening; too many vision boards...can lull us into loops of thinking and planning and talking---without ever actually doing. In fact, our neurology doesn’t know the difference between the idea of an accomplishment and the achievement of a goal. We may find ourselves stuck in a loop of motion without doing anything directional or growth-oriented. Motion is not action. Telling a trusted friend that you’re going to write a book and then receiving the feeling of their good encouragement, is a lovely dopamine dump that ultimately diminishes the urgency to put pen to paper. Your brain has had its joy juice, so why bother? Motion is talking, action is doing. With the noise of the world so intense right now, social media overload can overwhelmed. Scrolling and ranting is the exhausting motion that robs us of the energy we might better use in intelligent action. Gandhi once said, in a gentle way, you can shake the world. Maybe shaking the world today is not talking about your hatred of mass produced goods destroying Mother Earth and padding the pockets of billionaires, but it's canceling your Amazon Prime subscription and purchasing local-based quality goods and investment pieces. Action breaks the cycle of wasted energy, it wakes us up from the slumber we find ourselves in as minions to convenience. Perhaps the draw towards motion is inertia itself. Motion without action feels a lot like marching to the cadence of another person’s foot fall. Action is the deeper sense of purpose and forward momentum. It is directional and growth-oriented. It is the much needed fuel to meaningful change.
elana kilkenny
Intuitive Counselor + Sacred Home Designer
Just because you are busy and putting energy into something, that doesn’t mean that you are being intentional and focused on achieving an aim or goal. In fact, you can---consciously or unconsciously--- fool yourself into thinking that just because you are putting a lot of effort and motion into something, you are taking action. This approach often doesn’t yield the best results and can tire and frustrate you in the process. In my intuitive counseling sessions I often work with clients who have certain goals, are in the midst of transitions, or are feeling stuck. Sometimes their default approach is to throw a lot of unfocused energy and time into moving forward to create change without taking some important steps. For example, if you are looking for love, you will probably be unsatisfied if you impulsively go on a bunch of dating apps and dates without spending some (perhaps vulnerable) time to get clear about what type of relationship you want, cultivating a dating profile that is authentically reflective of who you are and who you desire to attract, and getting grounded (and dare I say, intuitive) about who feels aligned for you to take a leap of faith and go on a date with. This same concept applies to other areas of life, such as looking for a job, improving your health/fitness, moving to a new home or location, etc. I help my clients gain clarity around what they truly want, figure out intentional steps, move through resistance and challenges (internal and external), and cultivate necessary mindset shifts and inspiration to put grounded action into achieving and manifesting what they want.
www.elanakilkenny.com
