The Power of Being Still

A principle of jckrbbt is to be still.  This art has been practiced and referenced over and over for centuries by many.  Being still, I mean really still, also has the effect of helping us physically.   Take a look at this interesting article on the health effects of meditation.  http://www.buddhanet.net/sangha-metta/medhealth.html

Einstein said:  "The monotony of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."

Thoreau had this thought:  "I went to the woods because I wished only 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."

Jesus continually used the phrase be still--one of my favorites is when he commanded the sea to be still and peaceful.  For me, he was creating silence in a world that does not support silence.  How powerful a principle to practice in our world today. Everywhere, people are pulling small electonic squares from their hip holsters like gunslingers all throughout the day.  They're logging onto countless websites to shop and chat and surf.

I find I'm much happier, fulfilled and focused when I create space in my day to be still.  A good friend of mine who lives in Baltimore recently wrote on the topic of silence.  I attach it below for your reading.  

Silence

By

Marcus Charleston

Call it late afternoon or early evening. It’s my favorite time of day. The burnt orange sun casts a fiery light on the ornate brickwork of row homes in Bolton Hill and the abandoned old buildings on Howard Street.

One doesn’t associate silence with the city. There’s always an undercurrent of noise from the blaring siren of a police car or a helicopter circling overhead. Because we’re social animals, more people are probably attracted to the Inner Harbor teeming with tourists or raucous bar crawls through Fells Point and Federal Hill on a weekend. While there can be comfort in a crowd, a winter evening’s walk along the Inner Harbor or sitting alone at the Bond Street Wharf after the crowds are gone, allows for more quiet reflection. It also allows you to view, and appreciate, these surroundings in a new way.

To quote Henry David Thoreau, “I have never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.” Some of my favorite moments in Baltimore are walks through the silent city. A friend of mine advises me to always find time in the day to be still. Sometimes it can best be found when the last of the rush hour traffic has deserted downtown or evening walks through the historic neighborhoods of Mt. Vernon or Bolton Hill.

I’ve always been fascinated seeing places, normally bustling with activity, standing quiet. Such as a theater, after a performance is over, when the stage contains a solitary ghost light casting shadows on the wall.  I’ve always found a beauty in the silence. This is especially true of downtown office buildings and city streets when the workday is over. The same can be said for areas on the west side, once the hub of downtown commerce; which has now taken on the haunting appearance of a ghost town.

Painter Edward Hopper captured this sense of isolation and solitude on canvas in his cityscapes. It can also be seen in the black and white photographs of A. Aubrey Bodine.  It’s a vision of Baltimore I think few people truly stop to notice or appreciate.

Painter Edward Hopper captured this sense of isolation and solitude on canvas in his cityscapes (www.edwardhopper.info ). It can also be seen in the black and white photographs of A. Aubrey Bodine ( www.baltimoresun.com/.../bal-bodine-pg,0,4112830.photogallery ).

It’s a vision of Baltimore I think few people truly stop to notice or appreciate.

Be still. Be well.

Danny