Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The Quiet

This weekend reminds me so strongly of something I carry around with me that most other people seem to not have, or not value. As I said in my last blog, when I go into the woods, the quiet seeps into me until I become a part of it.
When I go into the woods I want to go to a point where I can no longer hear any evidence of people, and stop and sit. It takes a while of sitting silently for you to become a part of the environment. Slowly you become aware of things around you. After a while you become aware of the sound of a small bird in the bushes or a squirrel in the firs.
But for me, I become mostly aware of the quiet in between the noises. Quiet is the steady state that lies underneath the sounds, contrasting them.
When you become aware of this, you become a part of it. And it becomes a part of you.
Back at work I carry it with me. It is there in the back of my consciousness. Like the tail on a kite, it keeps me pointed in the right direction.
But like a battery it needs to be recharged at intervals.
A little piece of me is still up in the Olympic mountains, sitting on a log.

4 comments:

sue said...

I think this is part of the trouble with people today... not enough of them, kids in particular, either have the resources to go to a place of total quiet or they just don't ever try to get there. We live far enough outside of town that I can sit out on the deck and have that total peace and quiet and be one with nature (ooo...that sounds awfully tree-huggary, doesn't it?). I just think if more people got away from the rushing around of our lives and had that quiet to take with them we'd all be better off. *Stepping off the lecture box now*.

Al said...

SUE: I agree with you completely. It takes time and effort to experience it, and few young people are willing to make the effort. They have become a generation of instant gratification. Egad, that sounds like an "old person"

sue said...

I won't tell... :)

trouble said...

Silence is where you find it. Sometimes we have to learn to silence the outside world and listen with our hearts and our souls rather than our ears. Even on the outskirts of LA if I take the time I can hear the cry of a hawk or the hoot of an owl. The scenery may not be the best but beauty can be found anywhere.