Quiet

Good afternoon ladies and gentleman

So in a random turn of events a few days ago, i wound up in a park of all places. What is interesting is the park seemed utterly deserted, a two and half mile stretch of fields, trees and a bandstand was completely empty, as if the gates had been closed and nobody even knew the park existed.

I parked my car, got out to looked left and right, trying to listen out for something, a dog, a person, a phone or even a car horn. Yet, nothing. As the vastness of autumn comes screaming to a close, the leaves have fallen off the trees, summer is nothing more than a distant memory and the icy winds of winter have us in its clutches, we can become so distracted from the simpler aspects of life, concentrating so heavily on heating systems, Black Friday sales, rushes at work and how an earth we will afford Christmas this year. Furthermore we have seen the vast majority of another year come and go, without really getting the chance for any form of reflection of what we have achieved.

The point is, i couldn’t help noticing, for that half an hour i wandered round the empty park and stood in the centre of the bandstand looking out at the world, it was so quiet. Modern society is an incredibly busy place, we are all going somewhere to do something important, only to have to rush off to catch the bus or jump in the car to get to do the next important thing and so on, and so on. Cities and even suburbia are awash with the hustle and bustle of what modern life has become, eating on the move, walking quickly, time paranoid that we might not achieve the dizzying heights for what we had planned in our lifetime if we “waste time” today.

This time paranoid lifestyle can, sadly, result in us missing out on taking a moment to think. We need to think, about ourselves, where life is going and where we are right now. Otherwise i feel like this isn’t really living, because without it, we are nothing more than machines performing a function, resting and repeating, only to expire in 75 years and be replaced by a new machine. We as people are a lot of things, so much more than machines designed to perform a thankless repetitive task. This is why, i believe, quiet moments in this hectic society are so precious.

In that park, i could hear nothing of this hectic modern life we all run around in. I was just there, enjoying the peacefulness of my surroundings, considering all that has occurred in my world, the incredible complexity of the world  and how it can drive us to do things we wouldn’t normally do, to avoid things we don’t want to deal with. The quiet was so oddly bewitching because all i could hear where the thoughts running through my head. I sat in the bandstand, listening to myself, for once. I don’t feel like we listen to ourselves anymore, concentrating on what we need to do, at the detriment of everything else.

It was at this point i received a text, and SLAM. I was back. There was a distinct thud, a change in my mental processes and feelings as what felt like reality took grasp of me again. I have wondered since that day whether i had become so lost in my own thoughts and feelings, as if I had ventured down a rabbit hole that was quiet and peaceful to the point where i may, given long enough, I might not want to come back.

As i have considered this more and more, spent vast periods of time with how i felt flowing through my mind, i can’t help wonder if there is too much of a good thing, to the point where it can affect you in a negative way. Its very easy to become lost in ourselves, to sit thinking for too long to the point where it can make you feel utterly miserable.

So how do we enjoy and respect the peacefulness of the quiet, without the life of excess we have become used to ruining it? The quiet is a beautiful thing, and these moments that I have written about numerous times that make us live in the present, existing only in that moment, on that day, are the moments that make us who we are. Yet, when the noise dies down and you are there, what do you do? How are we supposed to react? I think we should hold onto this feeling , enjoy and love them for what they are, brilliant moments, because what they can do is so important to our consistent development as people. I think we can learn about ourselves and respect ourselves a little more through these moments, to make us much better equipped to take on everything that modern society throws at us.

Running away isn’t going to help you on your journey, or help you even come close to your dreams, so maybe if we took moments, not lifetimes to take stock of it all, we might have half a chance.

How do you feel about the quiet? How does a peaceful situation affect you? The profound effect quiet could have if we just took a moment and felt it could be a jump onto the path of choosing to think better feeling thoughts and be a part of our own Thinking Evolution. So surely its worth a chance.

Yours, with love as always.

DR

Random motivational picture

quiet

quiet