HONOURING THE RHYTHMS OF LIFE
The other day in meditation I asked, ‘how can I increase the depth of my spiritual practice?’ the answer was quick and simple: ‘up the silence, up the stillness, up the boredom’.
It is in that place of nothingness, of quietness that we really see our minds, our patterns, our habits run the show. When we can sit in that space and just observe, I think that is when we make true progress, to observe and not react…it’s harder than it seems but in that space true change begins to emerge.
The next day, the power went off in my apartment. As night came I was left with nothing but stillness, silence and boredom. My phone had died, there was no TV, there was nothing to distract me….and so what did I do? I went to a friend’s house to get a portable charger and used the time to go grocery shopping. Life tried to give me an opportunity to live the lesson and I ran from it at all full speed.
Weeks have passed since this happened and yet, I’m still feeling the same guidance - increase the silence (especially this one!). It’s as if, when I go on walks these days, I get a full body reaction to excess noise: “TURN OFF THE PODCAST!! …STOP LISTENING TO THE VOICE NOTE!!….JUST BE IN SILENCE!!” It’s visceral, it’s as if I hit a sensory input overload. And so, I’m trying to honour this.
There are times in which we create, there are times when we take action, yet sometimes the most courageous thing to do of all, is nothing. For in that space we have to meet ourselves without distraction, to listen to what our hearts are saying and surrender to what it is asking of us. For we need rest, we need stillness…because it is in the silence in which we hear the most.