Stillness
Our "ordinary life" in the world is our ground. Stillness is often a neglected, fragile figure lurking somewhere in the background. But what if we were to flip this seemingly reasonable and familiar figure ground relationship of ours? What if, instead, stillness became our ground and the world and what we do in it became a mere set of occasionally interesting figures that move in and out of our ground of stillness? Here, we would awake in stillness, and leave our home if and when we felt called to "carve out" some time for the world, always returning again and again to the home ground of stillness.
Can we even imagine such a thing?
In the stillness of not moving or speaking, not running or planning, if we allow our eyes to soften and our gaze to alight on whatever color or event, if we listen without hurry or distraction, a world of invisible sounds and sights emerges, as from deep within a misty fog. Trees, the songs of birds, wind rustling leaves, fragrances of earth grass flower, warm sun or cool rain on hand or cheek, a line of poetry recalled, the shape of a cloud, the smell of how this season emerges in this place, the feeling of the breath, an exhale. Without such stillness of attention, how can we ever possibly know what treasures surround us in every moment?
A Life of Being, Having, and Doing Enough by Wayne Muller pgs. 90 - 91
Invitation: “… what treasures surround us in every moment?”
More books by Wayne Muller (Linked)
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I am intrigued and inspired by this invitation from Wayne Muller -- "In the stillness of not moving or speaking, not running or planning, if we allow our eyes to soften and our gaze to alight on whatever color or event, if we listen without hurry or distraction, a world of invisible sounds and sights emerges, as from deep within a misty fog." Slowing down, stillness, quiet... living in the present moment.