In a perfect world, on a perfect day..I look for stillness. I love the layers of my life..so many interests. So many people to share my world with..they fill me up and make me grateful. However, as much as I love the movement of my life, the direction that it is taking me in, the joys that I have been given, the gratitude that I experience..I am also a seeker of stillness.
On a perfect day I find stillness in many places...it does not just happen, I have to seek it out and through experience I know that without stillness in my day, I will not fulfill my expectations of a day well spent, or a life well lived..I took me many years to figure this out.
I have established a pretty nice routine for myself..it started many years ago..when I had one of my biggest challenges...I had to get myself healthy, and as I traveled this path to health, I learned that I had to put my self first in order to serve those who needed me. So it began...
So here is my perfect day, filled with moments of stillness....
First thing, every day...exercise for 90 minute...5 days a week..all year long..I'm into my 32 years of this routine and it's where I get to think about what will happen in my day..an hour of that 90 minutes is spent walking, somewhere...treadmill, park, neighborhood...weather is not an excuse to skip it. In the summer, in Maine I add in kayaking and biking and swimming, both at home and Maine.
After working on my computer for a few hours or doing household tasks I need more quiet..so I sit, on my porch, surrounded by a private backyard, just myself (well Gracie comes of course) and I rest..meditate a bit, maybe read but always quiet...no music, no tv...no husband.
Again at 4 o'clock I take 30 minutes of so to have tea and maybe knit or read..winding down...
I can meditate in my room with my little table, I can walk in my labyrinth garden. I can sit on my bench outside with just the sounds of the bird...I can bike ride, although that is getting more dangerous here...so many choices to find a bit of stillness. BTW did you know that swimming is really very meditative...just being in the water is so soothing to the mind...
In Maine..oh now that is stillness all by itself...the lake, the loons, the deck facing the mountain for morning meditation and stretching...after the treadmill. Sitting quietly is never a problem in Maine...we are the second to last house on a dead end street (actually both of my houses are the second to last house on a dead end street), that is strange isn't it. Stillness surrounds me there, sometimes to much. But the thing that always reminds me of the gifts of life and a higher power are in a Maine sunset...nothing makes me understand the preciousness of life, like a Maine sunset..right off the front of my dock...For 22 years I've been watching the sun set over that lake and each night it is different...in color, texture, hues and saturation. Most nights we sit in the rockers and just watch, not even talking to each other...then there are nights, like the one above, this past weekend, where I am running for the camera and snapping the majestic image before me..There is power in stillness, in nature and in quiet. It's where we find out who we are and what we stand for. It's what helps to make creativity flow and when we are still we know that we are able to understand that there is a life force beyond what we can manage...we learn, in those moments, that sometimes we just have to let go and give in...to Life.
Wishing you quiet moments of stillnes...but it won't just come to you, you have to seek it out...Go on, be a seeker...find yourself a ball of fire, a mountain or a molehill...and get quiet..