You know how you hear your own voice, telling you why didn't you take this walk more often, why did you take this picture? You are constantly interrupting yourself, while you try to shush the noise inside your head.
We live in the present, and the reflective present, alert to waves that might bury us, watching ourselves being clumsy as we step lively to avoid being soaked by errant waves, and reminding ourselves that we have responsibilities, deadlines, expectations.
We are spectators in our own lives.
The very ability that allows us to interrupt ourselves, the very thing we call self-control, can also be a major detractor.
Today, this minute, just BE.
Don't spoil these sensations.
26 comments:
As a human being, I am continually amazed at how difficult this is to do.
Living in silence within is a practiced form that takes root in direct proportion to the amount of silence one truly wants. Most people can not handle silence for long periods of time.
smiles...def takes discipline in order to just be...the trick is def learning when to listen and when not...i will take that walk though...
Nice . . . could get lost in that photo.
:)
sitting in the opening light of the day on my bed, which right now, rosaria, is in half of the living room, living now in a two bedroom apartment waiting for the U.S. immigration to allow me to move to the house james and i have waiting in indiana. sitting here, james at his computer reading poetry, his broad back toward me, my son on the couch not far from me playing a building game on the X-box (god help me) with his friend who slept over, the two of them sunk down and so close on the couch to one another, my daughter still asleep in her bedroom. right now. this is my life. it is warm all around me.
you?
xo
erin
The right side of my brain agrees to reflect. I create and appreciate in my mind and sitting quietly sometimes has to be forced as the world moves around us, friendly or not so friendly.
My morning walks are spaces of time where my inside chatter is allowed to come out loud and run full speed. Lots of friendly chatter...speech therapy :)
I used to go on a 3-day silent retreat every year. It's amazing what opens up to your heart and mind when the rest of the world is tuned out. Something speaks to you... call it what you may.
A friend of mine who is very into meditation wrote a book. I can't remember the name of it but on each page was an instruction like so:
When walking, walk.
When eating, eat.
Essentially doing what it is you are doing without thinking about what you just did or what you are going to do next.
I always try and think of this when my mind goes in too many directions.
So important, so basic -- and so difficult! You're so right, Rosaria! Living in the moment is so wonderful when we allow it to happen.
Something we all could work at doing!
We are we are both participants and spectators in our own lives. We act, and we reflect.
Well done on both, Rosaria!
Being a spectator/observer is a step in the right direction of being aware of what is happening in our mind and how we are interpreting and judging every situation and ourselves. It is the moment when we can make a choice to be at peace with whatever is.
(And what is it chattering up there right now? 'Yeah right Helga, now do that awareness and choice thing every single moment of today and tomorrow and next week and... You think you'll be at peace? You'll go nuts.') - Time to make a choice to tune out!
I love to take the time to sit quietly and just BE and try to do that each day. I get very weary of the noise I'm surrounded by and mostly by my own "chattering" in my head!
My little brain is always chattering away to itself and I often find myself laughing at it. I am in external silence quite a bit and yet seldom notice it because of my chatter. There are times I can almost just be, especially when walking but to simply be? I haven't gotten there yet. I think as long as we fully partake of life we are in essence being.
Good food for thought Rosaria. Thanks.
This reminds me of a line from The Hours: "I thought it was the beginning of happiness. I didn't know, it WAS happiness."
We interrupt ourselves far to often and forget to be where we are. I like the way you wrote this very much. How true it is.
You're so right, Rosaria. That's a lovely picture.
Silencing the mind is so difficult...lines from a poem by Daniel Skach-Mills fits with this:
"A gunshot startles a thousand birds.
A thought erupts into a thousand emotions."
oh yes, i was confronted with this dilemma this past weekend while visiting my daughter. i felt that pull between wanting to chronicle the moment versus wanting to float within it. we are spectators in our own lives.
I need distractions. I be all the time and it is not good. Hello Rosaria, I hope you are well and I thank you always for your warm visits to my blog. And Rosaria, this is oceangirl :)
I love peace and quiet. I have always said I would be happy on an island on my own as long as there is food easily available and I am not cold. Take care Diane
I haven never been able to be quiet & meditate. My mind is always whirling a mile a minute. I think that is why
sleep is so elusive as well. You'd think, with all my months in India, I might have learned some meditation techniques. At least, with an hour massage every other day the past five days, I am more relaxed and, for that hour, I do better at not letting the world intrude. Home in three weeks.
I've pent all day today just being....... and I rather enjoyed it!
Maggie X
Nuts in May
I have spent a lot of speculative time during the past months, while recuperating from some medical procedures. Despite the circumstances it has been a positive experience to just BE and FEEL. We often numb ourselves in busy-ness.
Lovely. Just being - it should come effortlessly.. but of late, I'm starting to feel that it doesn't. May be I am preoccupied. May be hurt. Can't even figure out. Your post and the photo just infused some serenity into me :-)
Our brains can be a noisy place at times. It's difficult and so important to live in the moment.. at least from time to time.
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