How a 400-Year-Old Poet Taught Me to Quit My Grind and Trust My Breath
And why your most valuable offering has nothing to do with your output.
Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash
I was reading Rainn Wilson’s Soul Boom the other day, searching for some spiritual ammunition against the constant low-grade anxiety of being a solopreneur.
You know the feeling. That pressure to perform, to monetize, to prove your worth in a world that measures it in likes and revenue.
Then, on page 117, I found a quiet bombshell. Wilson was writing about Matsuo Basho, the legendary 17th-century Japanese poet.
He described Basho’s process: he walked dozens of miles a day on a poetic pilgrimage. He didn’t force it. He just noticed. The specific way the light hit a leaf. The sound of the breeze in the cottonwood trees. The change of the seasons.
His day would end at a sacred spot—a temple, a bridge, a harbor. And then, from that place of quiet observation, he would compose a single poem. He’d leave it behind as an offering. A gift. No fanfare. No affiliate link. No worrying if it was “valuable” enough.
He lived by a simple idea:
“To live poetry is better than to write it.”
When I read that, I put the book down. My heart ached with longing, and tension arose. It was the tension between the life I felt called to live and the life I felt forced to live to pay the bills.
My “pilgrimage” looked like this: Staring at a blank screen, my mind screaming, “What can you create that people will buy?” Trying to please an algorithm instead of a soul. Agonizing over every word, every offer, every post, terrified it wouldn’t be “smart” enough or valuable enough to justify my chosen path.
The fear behind it all? The deep, cringing embarrassment of failing in front of my family and friends. The terrifying thought: What if I run out of savings? What if I’ve just wasted my life?
Basho’s life was the absolute opposite of that fear. He wasn’t concerned with proving his worth. He knew his worth was inherent in the journey itself. As he said, “the journey itself is my home.”
His value wasn’t in the poem he produced at the end of the day. It was in the act of walking, seeing, and breathing. The poem was simply the natural exhale after a day of deep inhalation.
And that’s when it hit me. We’ve been looking at value all wrong.
We think we have to become valuable through our output. We have to prove our worth through our productivity and our bank accounts. We’re like squirrels, but with a pathological twist—we’re not just saving for winter; we’re hoarding for a retirement 40 years away, all while forgetting to live in the present season of our lives.
But look at nature. The tree outside my office window doesn’t ask, “What is the ROI on my oxygen?” My cat doesn’t fret about her career path. They simply are. And by being, they provide immense, life-sustaining value.
Our existence is our first and greatest offering.
Just by breathing, we are in a sacred exchange with the world. We inhale oxygen (O2) given to us by the plants. We exhale carbon dioxide (CO2) that they need to survive. Our mere presence is a vital gift. We are inherently worthy, simply because we are here.
So if our fundamental state of being is already valuable, what does that mean for our doing?
It means our work, our creations, our businesses should not be frantic attempts to become worthy. They should be natural extensions of our already-worthy selves. They should be the poem we leave behind after a day of paying attention.
The goal shifts from “How can I make money?” to “What wants to flow through me?” From “What will people buy?” to “What is my unique offering?”
This isn’t a naive rejection of money. It’s a strategic embrace of authenticity. When you create from that aligned, unforced place, you stand out. Your work carries a resonance that manufactured content never will. Paradoxically, letting go of the need for it to generate income is often the very thing that allows it to do so, because people are drawn to genuine value, not desperate grabs for attention.
So, how do we start? We take a “Basho Step.”
We don’t need to quit our jobs and wander Japan (though the dream is nice!). We can start right now, in the middle of our messy, modern lives.
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to do one of these tomorrow:
The Noticing Walk: Go for a five-minute walk. Your only job is to notice one specific, beautiful detail. The way moss grows on a stone. The pattern of cracks on the sidewalk. Text that observation to a friend. No context needed. That’s your offering.
The Identity Draft: Take a piece of paper and write: “The kind of person I want to be is…” Don’t attach to it being true now. Just let it flow. This is an offering to your future self.
The Intuitive Nudge: Sit in stillness for three minutes. Ask, “What small, kind act wants to flow through me today?” Then do it. Send the message of forgiveness. Make the call. That is your offering.
The goal isn’t to create a masterpiece. The goal is to practice the posture of offering. To prove to yourself that your value isn’t out there, waiting to be earned.
It’s right here, in your breath. In your attention. In your willingness to walk your own path and leave your unique poem behind.
What wants to flow through you today?
If this reflection resonated with you, the wisdom that started it all can be found in Rainn Wilson’s wonderful book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution*. (*Amazon.com affiliate link: If you choose to click it and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.)
If you're tired of the grind and want to build a life and business that feels as simple and aligned as Basho's walk, join us on a deeper journey. Sophia and I share exclusive insights, practical exercises, and personal stories in our Simple and Aligned Newsletter. It’s where we explore how to quiet the noise, trust your intuition, and let your work flow from your truest self.
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— Cristof (and Sophia) from Simple and Aligned