In action - in rushing, planning, organising, exerting, performing, producing..., we loose track of ourselves, our current state, inclinations, desires, realities, fears and challenges.
Without a will and habit to centre ourselves, we eventually start acting out of a script, on auto-pilot, based on choices that belonged to another time, that didn't have the information we have now - or the information we would have if we took a moment to still ourselves.
In contemplation, we connect to the truth of the present, inner and outer present. We equip ourselves with what is real, possible, true, relevant. We recover our focus and our ability to act in harmony with our circumstances.
Quieting may involve down time - meditations, rest, holidays, walks... Or it may involve a conscious choice to delay a response - consideration, research, consultation... Or it may involve a decision to disengage from a situation that is getting out of control - time-out, mediation, resignation.
Sometimes, the right action is doing nothing. Acceptance is the point.
To let the light out - gain clarity and access beauty - we need to clear those beliefs that obstruct and blur the vision.
These we hold to be true as tight as any that actually serve us, until we let ourselves onto the inner journey.
There we find the freedom to let things unfold and can rest in the fact that we’re not actually in charge of it all.
Not everything is a trigger, something we need to react to.
More often than not, orientation requires us to understand what moves and doesn’t, what is up for negotiation.
When we feel compelled to take action when things around us change, we change our bearing and let it be known that we can change our mind, our stance, our boundaries, and while we’re at it, our purpose and self-definition.
Choosing to not react lets our last move be our truth.
In the face of challenge, risk, or doubt, seeking the quiet in the eye of the storm gives a sense of order, of being centred, of fair stock-taking of the situation. But when the ordering is avoidance, it helps no one.
Calm is not paralysis, idleness, and even less obliviousness. It is a choice to proceed patiently, accept the pace and constraints as the reality to deal with, and move forward consciously - without rushing and without resistance.
Chaos, urgency, a whirlwind of tasks, tiredness, financial or emotional strain, duress, peer pressure, or simple habit can push us to act in unquestioned directions.
When our actions go against the dictates of our heart, pain comes.
We may tell our self we are making a hard choice, being cautious or smart, and somehow saving our behind, but we are only succumbing to the fear, buying into someone else’s truth and running around like a headless chicken.
Dancers don’t see the show, they are absorbed by their moves. To them, each beat and change of pace has specific meaning, a physical response that needs enactment, which keeps them from the harmony of the lot.
Surely they trust that it works enough to play their part, but they’ll have to learn the truth of if from the audience.
When we free exempt ourselves from participation long enough to see the performance, we are better equipped to see what is lacking, what our role is in it, and to spare ourselves distraught gesticulations.
Effervescent expression drowns the point in noise.
Whether the drive is to share, tell stories, wrap the news in drama, or explain again what is clearly not understood, verbosity is more sound than sense.
Meaningful interaction uses few words or gestures. It selects accurately those that fill the blank for the other, sticks to the agenda, waits for a topic to be raised to provide strictly new input... and only raises a point or question when failing to would compromise mutual understanding.
There is quiet in the centre of a hurricane. The universe is funny that way, a paradox, or more enigmatically, a reminder that, to how small we are in the grand scheme of things, the world is a relentless storm.
We shield ourselves of the overwhelm by simple ignorance, obliviousness, numbness, and more gracefully, accepting that agitation wouldn’t help anything.
With that in mind, quieting really is about a deep down understanding that since we have no power at all, we may as well not freak out.
Stilling
Keeping still
Stillness