Up: [[Experiencing Time]] Created: 2022-07-17 Pronounced ooo-way, it means no trying, no doing, but it’s not actually inaction. It’s the feeling of doing nothing while accomplishing. It requires integration of body, emotions, and mind. Other people know if you’re in wu-wei because you have de (pronounced ‘duh’) which means virtue or charismatic power. In its original early Chinese context, wu-wei is a spiritual or religious concept because it’s about being absorbed in Dao or the Way, which is larger than our individual reality. Wu-wei is similar to [[Flow]]. Both involve effortless concentration, the loss of a sense of a self, and an altered sense of time. However, there is a significant difference between the two. Flow is about finding and maintaining that sweet spot between challenge and skill, which means always ramping up the challenge to increase and match the increase in skill. In contrast, wu-wei is about getting beyond the self by doing very routine, familiar and simple activities that are fully absorbing and that we value as being larger than our individual selves. Wu-wei always involves social connections between people, it’s not just the individual. > [!User] Edward Sligerland, *Trying Not to Try*, p. 47