My dearly beloved
friend, Betsy, no longer in the physical world, understood quiet and silence.
Many were drawn to her because she seemed so at peace with quiet. Last month
she came to me in a dream. She told me to be quiet.
I have trouble with
quiet. Even when I am not speaking, my mind is chattering away. Early on, I
learned that I could direct my scattered mind by talking to myself. If I managed
and directed the inner-dialogue, as if in an interview, I could steer my mind away
from the stories I didn’t like –the stories that made me feel sad, or angry, or
worried, or incomplete. I got very good at this tactic, believing I was
managing my monkey mind.
Lately, I’ve been
rethinking the whole thing. Why not stop and allow my thoughts to actually go
to the worrisome places. This terrifies me. But what will I do with the
thoughts once they appear? Perhaps they will require action, action I’m afraid
of. Or more profoundly, if I stay with the thought I may get a glimpse of what
it is like to simply sit with it and not feel propelled to fix it. Witness and
release it like a fluffy cloud moving slowly and gracefully across the sky. If
I can be present with the thought, see it for what it really is perhaps I can
come to a peaceful acceptance that it is just another story.
Silence, Listening
the art of cultivating solitude
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is
a field.
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.”
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.”
Some suggested
reading/viewing:
Explore these
questions:
· What distracts you from quiet/solitude?
· Write about any or all of the following, silence, listening,
& solitude. What is your relationship with the words and your understanding
of them?
· How do silence, listening, and solitude affect your
relationship with your creative process?
Suggested activities:
Select one or more of
these “quiet spaces” activities for the next month
· If you always turn the radio or music on in your car –
try at least one trip per day without any sound. Tune in to your environment
and yourself.
· If you often turn the TV on at night – try one evening
without any screen time. What did you do?
· Plan one 10-minute (minimum time) tune out time per
day. Lie on your bed or on the floor, go for a walk, sit on a chair outdoors,
No cellphones, no computers.
· Go somewhere or stay home. LISTEN to your pet, someone
else’s pet, your house sounds, REALLY listen…JUST LISTEN -- what do you hear?
· Go to a piece of creative work and take some time to
look. Just look, don’t respond. What do you see? Listen to what it is trying to
tell you.
· Try being quiet (no words) for one hour, one morning, afternoon
or evening, or one whole day. How was it?
·
Try this activity
with one or more of your friends or family members – we like to call it Solider
of Love. Create a space for anyone in the group to call a one hour Soldier of
Love. This means the person who called it can have the floor for one hour to
share, rant , discuss, ask questions about anything that is troubling them. COMPLETE
listening from the group –complete support.
