Living in the modern age of connectivity, we are constantly stuffing our minds with "things" to fill in the "void" within us. We are so afraid of the emptiness that silence and stillness might bring up once we have a moment of "nothing to do". We open our eyes, and our hands reach for the smart phone to check in with what we've missed out the night before, we turn on the TV and let the images flicker and the static drown out any awkwardness we might feel about ourself. We go to work and have meetings and chatter and gossip about nothing at all. We collect information to feed our minds constantly, especially when all the voices in our heads are screaming for attention. And when the work day is over, we continue to fill our heads with trivia at any possible given moment, scrolling through endless news feeds and food photography... "We act as if the human intellect were a runaway monster which must be fed continuously at all costs." ~ Ram Dass I am guilty of this too. It's so easy to keep finding "something to do", even in-between little pockets of time so we can be "productive" and "efficient". Sometimes the biggest challenge is to give myself a reason to slow down and do absolutely nothing... un-tether myself from my phone and devices... free up the social calendar, sit quietly, and just listen. Listen beyond the clutter of stuff that I've been trying to push away, listen to where they are coming from, go into the dark corners, clear out the cobwebs, and let the light in... Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you Into a world you were never in. New strangers on other paths await. New places that have never seen you Will startle a little at your entry. Old places that know you well Will pretend nothing Changed since your last visit. When you travel, you find yourself Alone in a different way, More attentive now To the self you bring along, Your more subtle eye watching You abroad; and how what meets you Touches that part of the heart That lies low at home: How you unexpectedly attune To the timbre in some voice, Opening in conversation You want to take in To where your longing Has pressed hard enough Inward, on some unsaid dark, To create a crystal of insight You could not have known You needed To illuminate Your way. When you travel, A new silence Goes with you, And if you listen, You will hear What your heart would Love to say. A journey can become a sacred thing: Make sure, before you go, To take the time To bless your going forth, To free your heart of ballast So that the compass of your soul Might direct you toward The territories of spirit Where you will discover More of your hidden life, And the urgencies That deserve to claim you. May you travel in an awakened way, Gathered wisely into your inner ground; That you may not waste the invitations Which wait along the way to transform you. May you travel safely, arrive refreshed, And live your time away to its fullest; Return home more enriched, and free To balance the gift of days which call you. ~ John O’Donohue ~ You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -- over and over announcing your place in the family of things. |
Daphne Chua
Registered Yoga Therapist, Somatic Movement Educator, Bodyworker, Yoga Teacher Trainer
December 2021
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