Sunday Poem: Doing is Being by Ray Bradbury
Explore the “Sunday Poems” archive here.
Doing is Being
Ray Bradbury
Doing is being.
To have done’s not enough.
To stuff yourself with doing — that’s the game.
To name yourself each hour by what’s done,
To tabulate your time at sunset’s gun
And find yourself in acts
You could not know before the facts
You wooed from secret self, which much needs wooing,
So doing brings it out,
Kills doubt by simply jumping, rushing, running
Forth to be
The new-discovered me.
To not do is to die,
Or lie about and lie about the things
You just might do some day.
Away with that!
Tomorrow empty stays
If no man plays it into being
With his motioned way of seeing.
Let your body lead your mind –
Blood the guide dog to the blind;
So then practice and rehearse
To find heart-soul’s universe,
Knowing that by moving/seeing
Proves for all time: Doing’s being!
Share your thoughts about the poem with the community by commenting below.
5 Responses to “Sunday Poem: Doing is Being by Ray Bradbury”
I have mixed feelings about this one Steve. I believe more the opposite: being is doing. Recognizing who we really are (a being motive) leads us to do the things we were created to do. That’s the way I see it right now anyway.
Comment made on February 21st, 2010 at 3:44 pmI kind of liked this poem. I think sometimes I have a tendency to think everything to death. I find that if I get started I generally discover the correct path. As the old saying goes, “It’s hard to steer a parked car”.
Comment made on February 22nd, 2010 at 1:33 amSean, I know what you mean; I had the same struggle with this one initially.
But as I thought about it, I think he’s touching on a higher level than understanding that being precedes doing, that next level being where the two merge. In other words, we demonstrate who we are through what we do.
What do you think?
Comment made on February 22nd, 2010 at 8:19 pmWhat we do is what people remember us by. It is even worse if what we say does not match up with what we do. There was a guy in my ward (church) from a long time ago who always talked about the importance of home teaching (an lds program where members are assigned to visit others and share a spiritual message) yet being our home teacher, he never came. We still remember that one!
The message I get is do what you say, for doing is how people interpret who you are (being)
Comment made on February 23rd, 2010 at 9:58 amYeah, I see what you mean Stephen. I had mixed feelings about this poem because Bradbury seemed to be saying it both ways.
I’m not fond of this line:
“To stuff yourself with doing — that’s the game.”
…because that seems to imply that our worth is measured by our performance. And I don’t agree with that – that mindset causes people to act simply for the sake of acting, to *prove* their worth to the world. This causes all sorts of problems in the world, and also leads people to believe that they are what they do. Human doings, rather than human beings.
But much of the rest of the poem seems to jive with your interpretation, that doing is the manifestation of our being. That idea I agree with and love.
I think our intention is key here in differentiating the two.
Comment made on February 23rd, 2010 at 6:24 pmLeave a Comment