sunday life: in which i check in with my inside people…and Eugene Tan
This week I check in with my “inside people”
a happy shot by Uge
You can spend a lifetime reading books about how to get happy in 11 easy steps while not sweating small stuff. There are a lot out there, generally written by some of the most tortured souls around (in the same way neurotics often become psychiatrists and awkward nerds generally become models).
But I find the most powerful life-bettering lessons emerge from everyday people you meet in the street. Randoms, in the act of happiness.
On Monday I ran into Eugene, a surfer I’ve known from around my neighbourhood for a while, sitting in the sun having a coffee. I asked what he was doing because he wasn’t reading the paper or talking into a phone. He was just sitting. “Sez, I’m checking in with my inside people,” he said everyday-ishly, like he was posting a letter.
As Eugene explained, this entails just sitting and asking of one’s people, “Are we all happy? Comfortable? Heading in good directions?” I could’ve asked Eugene to explain who these inside people were. But there’s no need, is there. We all kind of get it. Our “inside people” is that part of our selves that exists behind our external self. It’s the self we go home to after a bewildering day, or a loud night; the self that’s always there, silent and knowing.
bondi as i know it...happiest place on the planet
In Buddhist circles, they call it the small “i”. When you ask “who am I?”, who asks the question (and answers it)? That would be your small “i” self. Eastern philosophy is mostly about checking in with this small “i”, to truly see where the truth is at.
Now for context, Eugene used to have an office job. Ten years ago he started getting up at dawn to take digital pictures of people on Bondi beach – surfing, running, meditating. Or just sitting. He’d post them on this new contraption called a blog, which fellow desk slaves could access for a hit of happiness as they arrived at their cubicles. One day he tossed in the day job and turned aquabumbs.com into a fulltime gig. The site gets 30,000 hits daily and he’s paid to fly around the world to surf and capture the joy of the sun coming up over beaches in images he also sells in his gallery. Nice life if you can create it for yourself.
storm coming in
In all honesty, I’ve never met anyone who’s been able to marry what they love with what they do so spectacularly. What’s his secret? Well, I’ve been thinking about it all week. I reckon it’s this inside people trick. He doesn’t feel the need to spell it out as I am want of doing, but when I ask what unhappy people get wrong, he’s emphatic: they don’t give themselves time with their inside people. And he’d know. He watches people for a living through the all-seeing lens of a camera.
lone swimmer...bondi...i swim across in summer...sublime
He adds only this: don’t overcomplicate things – just make the time to check in. Every day. His sunrise ritual of getting up to watch surfers, which he’s done every day for a decade, is his time. “I don’t think or plan in this space, I just check in,” he says. And good stuff just emerges from there “without trying” (in his case, a business revolving around watching surfers at sunrise).
It’s pretty much meditation spelled out fresh. In fact, it reminds me of the time a girl next to me at my meditation group asked what she should be doing once in mediation to “work through issues”. She was learning meditation to manifest a husband and kid (no surprise – she’d watched The Secret four times). The guide simply said, “just meditate”. She must have heeded the advice. She’s gave birth to her first baby last week. Regardless, it’s a powerful point: just create the space and sit there with your inside people. Feel where they’re at and then let stuff happen.
Since Monday I’ve been checking in with my inside peeps for ten minutes before bed, but also whenever I have a void in the day (that I normally fill returning calls). There we are just hangin’ on a little ledge, somewhere near my heart space. Nothing to say, nothing to do. Just hangin’ and seeing how we’re going.
Funny thing is, when you enquire, the response is invariably, “pretty damn good, actually”. Inside peeps are like that. When you check in on them.
Beautiful photographs!
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Great column Sez – just so true. I took a break recently to get in touch with those guys and yes, they’re pretty happy indeed. I just need to do it daily as you suggest. Cheers, D
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You have a knack of reading just what you need, at just the right time! Superb reminder of the beauty in simplicity.
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Read this twice with a smile …the simplicity of checking in for a moment and listening…..I love learning from people (not a big fan of self help books – people stories engage me much more). thanks for this post and thank Eugene for me too.
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Great article, Sarah. I love Eugene’s idea of getting in touch with my inner people. Okay, they are now telling me, that’s enough, Rowe, keep it short and sweet!
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I love this!
“Don’t over completecate things – just make the time to check in,” great advice that I think we all can take on.
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fantastic read! I enjoyed this one!!
anthea.
x
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Thank you Sarah
And Eugene, of course, for his breathtaking photos and inside people.
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I LOVE!! beautiful!
A good read is -the element- ken robinson. Ken describes how powerful it is when you create the perfect balance of what you love to do and what you are naturally gifted at. Eugene is certainly in his element. Such an inspiring story to read. thanks sarah x
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[...] I can take stock of what has happened in the last couple days, what the future week will be like, you know, check in with my inside people. [...]
very beautiful sarah
xoxoxo
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[...] happened a bunch of little times, but it only really dug home when I was checking in with my inside people (I love that phrase now, btw) Christmas Eve and realized The Universe has been telling me, little [...]
Dear Sarah,
I have just finished reading your article on “I resolve to be sarah” while I was in the bathroom (embarassing but true).It was like an affirmation for me, very clear and quiet.I am a mother of two teenages , fast approaching fifty and have always felt I never fitted my life comfortably. I also love to read childrens book , loathe stranger parties, and my children and my husband are constantly telling me I’m “unusual”.Maturity has softened my over sensitve edges and now for the most part I do as I choose and try not to appear too anti -social or rude.Your article was like a soft pat on the back reminding me it’s okay not to run with the pack. Part of me still needs to be reasured. Thank You.
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re: Your article Sunday Life April 11. In his book The 5-Minute Meditator Eric Harrison suggests a wonderful technique called “stop before you start”. This is a wonderful technique for creating the space you talk about in your article, even if just for a minute. It is a meditation technique to consciously stop one activity, pause and then consciously start the next. The technique is as simple as breathing out and pausing before you start any new activity – answering the phone, opening the oven door etc.
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[...] like how it uses the pronoun “we”. Who is we? It’s me and my inside people (do you remember that post?). It’s me and the whole universe. We’re all in on this [...]
[...] pic below is a ripper….courtesy of Eugene at Aquabumps, he of the “checking in with my inside people” [...]
love this article. wow
happy days
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[...] My chat with Eugene Tan about his “inside people”. Funnily I’m here in Bali for his wedding. He’s marrying my mate Deb. Two of my [...]
Happy to read this again..I have to say that this story was my favourite of all times, I am still checking in on a weekly if not daily basis to check in with my inside people. May Eugene & Deb have a magical wedding. Inspiring!
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[...] Sunday Life: In which I check in with my inside people…and Eugene Tan [...]
[...] of morning routine is one that’s a fiesta of stuff that gets you grounded, that nurtures your “inside people”, that brings you home to you. You tick off these things and then you can get on with serving the [...]
[...] a refreshingly freeing question. Its a question for the real you or as Eugene Tan says your inside person and the question is “What’s essential” [...]
[...] might recall, I’ve written about Uge before. He taught me about “checking in with your inside people“. And I can safely say, Uge is one of the happiest people I know. He smiles when he surfs. It [...]
As a recent follower, this is the first time I have read this. I like the concept of checking in. Taking time to make sure that things are going the way that I want it to go. So often, we push aside what we are really feeling and thinking because it is hard.
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[...] I think we have been conditioned to think a certain way, act a certain way, talk & interact with others, all in a particular way. We live in a competitive world; fighting for that job or promotion (or even proving ourselves to coworkers), that house, that social status or that piece of furniture (or whatever purchase it might be) in the department store. I feel that we all put up these barriers, these walls, that we keep up to protect our vulnerabilities and weaknesses from other’s criticisms and judgments – trying to keep the upper hand by preventing other’s from getting the upper hand over us. I don’t think it’s a very authentic way of living and is rather suppressive on our inner people. [...]
Ive been meaning to read this and just never received a chance. Its an issue that Im really interested in, I just started reading and Im glad I did. Youre a fantastic blogger, 1 of the greatest that Ive seen. This blog unquestionably has some information on subject that I just wasnt aware of. Thanks for bringing this stuff to light.
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You know, this post is really cool. Thanks again!
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