{ stillness }

"When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.

When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world."

- Eckhart Tolle

{ still  }

1. remaining in place or at rest; motionless; stationary

2. free from sound or noise, as a place or persons

3. free from turbulence or commotion; peaceful; tranquil; calm

{kk Minus 43}

Losing touch with ourselves seems to be an ever growing problem in our world today, and yes, it's all too easy to lose yourself in the world if you don't find that special place to be still. When Kim gave us the theme of still last week, I was reminded of something I wrote about a year and a half ago, for my collaborative blog Focusing on life, about "Walden Pond" by Henry David Thoreau and something I read that really struck me. It would seem that when it comes to the commodity of time and being still, not much has changed since 1845.

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was having some kind of trouble with my computer, for which I can't even remember, and my husband came upstairs to rescue me. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take and so rather than go on to something else I just decided to get comfy in a chair and wait. There on the table next to me was a small book that much to my surprise I hadn't seen there before . . . I picked it up and it happened to be a book from an author of some of my very favorite quotes. The title of the book was, Walden * Henry David Thoreau and is a re-count of his experiences living in a small house in the woods on Walden Pond.

As I randomly opened the book I fell upon the middle of the chapter, "Where I lived and what I lived for," and he was talking about life living too fast. Imagine that!

I began to read . . . 

"Life lives too fast. Men think that it is essential that the nation have commerce, and talk through a telegraph, and export ice, and ride thirty miles per hour, and without a doubt, whether they do or not; but whether we should live like baboons or like men is a little uncertain."

The time frame for which he spent at Walden Pond was July 4, 1845 - September 5, 1847, and I find it interesting that through time every century of people have had the same concerns about time and as he said, living with such hurry and waste. Can you just imagine what Henry would think now if he only saw how fast we go through life today. And never mind the telegraph, we now have a plethora of social media; twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest and blogging etc., all accessed on wireless boxes called computers, cell phones and ipads.

As we get more and more of these technological advances and devices, our world seems to get smaller and smaller. Our connection to people, places, and things seemingly grows closer and closer and we now have the illusion that we can do or get things done faster and faster. But everything comes at a cost, everything. I believe the price we are paying is the exchange of quality for quantity. But really, we are just cheating ourselves.

We have become a society addicted to technology and to speed in the name of being connected (and to doing things faster). But are we really connecting? Because it seems with every new step of technology we seem to forget our true connections to each other, let alone to the living of life. Sometimes we live so fast I'm not sure we even notice, and I often wonder, do we even know where it is we are going anymore, or why we can't seem to stop to smell the roses along the way.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against technology. It can be a good thing when used in moderation and allows us a glimpse into the snippets of others lives, family and friends who live so far away. It has allowed me here on my own blog to connect with all of you, to strangers who have become friends. To share stories of our lives, to celebrate with one another and give encouragement and support each other through difficult times. But if we aren't careful it can become the very obstacle in our ability to live life fully. If we aren't careful we can lose our internal selves to the external expectations of society.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea, fantastic as it sounds, to muffle every telephone, stop every motor and halt all activity for an hour some day to give people a chance to ponder for a few minutes on what it is all about, why they are living and what they really want."
- James Truslow Adams

I think when we are younger life seems to be more about how much you can juggle, but as I've gotten older it has become more about balance and the quieter, softer side of life. I enjoy my moments of solitude to re-connect so that I don't get lost in the world and its unrealistic expectations . . . and, the red light runners. Who, by the way are never more than 5 seconds ahead of me, or two cars from me at the next light.

You know, Henry went to live at Walden Pond to continue his writing at the suggestion of Ellery Channing. He need a quieter place than his household to write, but in the same chapter he describes another motive . . .

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

All I know is that the faster we go, the more likely we are to miss out on the true meaning of life. That we need to slow down or chance missing the real connections that are meant for each of us along the way. Because when we are in a hurry we sacrifice patience, with ourselves, our relationships and our empathy toward others. We sacrifice moments. And, we sacrifice life.

I don't want to ever lose the sense of urgency, in a society that promotes hurriedness, to find stillness.

And, I don't want to come to the end of my life and find that I sacrificed being deliberate for a rush to nowhere.

Do you have a place of stillness. . .do you visit regularly?

Love, Kim xo



sharing with Texture Tuesday, Sweet Shot Tuesday