Just a few days ago,
I found myself walking in the woods.
It was early in the morning.
I had been practicing silence for an extended period,
and decided to take in some fresh air...
The thought in my head,
“You’ve got 25 minutes... That’s about 12 minutes out and 12 back.”
It was a beautiful winding path in the woods... and I heard my footsteps.
I thought about the 12 minutes again and I heard my footsteps speed up.
I walked briskly focused on the sound of my own footsteps... and my pace... and the clock ticking down...
And then...
“Where am I going?”, I thought to myself?
“Why must I go fast, ‘there’?”... I didn’t have any specific place I was going, but I clearly wanted to go as far as I could.
After all, I only had 12 minutes... and I was already two minutes in...
“I don’t want to go fast”
“I’m not going anywhere...”
“Why is ‘fast’ necessary? Why is ‘far’ an objective?”
I smiled at myself... amused and befuddled...
And I heard my footsteps start to slow...
“That feels better...”
My footsteps slowed to the beat of my heart... and I breathed deeper.
I could hear my footsteps less and the woods more...
My feet kept slowing down.
“Why even go this fast?”
All of a sudden, I found myself stopped... in front of the woods... inside the woods... and I looked up.
The colors seemed brighter. And, the volume seemed to rise. My footsteps had been the only noise in my head, but now there were so many soft and beautiful sounds all around me...
I look up and around. There was more to see than I had time to see, but having stopped, I could actually see so much more...
I focused on the leaves - on the trees, carpeting the ground, floating in the stream, gliding through the air... filling the scene,
the fallen trees,
the rustling,
the creek,
the hill...
the vines and the branches...
the wind...
I listened as the sounds of the woods came to life...
I breathed deeply and calmly...
“How is it that I see more, I hear more, I even learn more if I slow down... if I stand still...?”
This ‘speed’ felt right... the world was moving and I was observing and enjoying and understanding.
If each moment mattered,
Time would be irrelevant...
And distance traveled even more so...
How much of my life do I miss by walking too fast? By trying to get as many steps in as I can before I have to ‘turn around’... before time runs out?
In how many of my moments lived do I fail to see or hear or experience the detail, the beauty, because all I can hear and think about are my pace and my footsteps and covering more ground before the music stops?
Could whatever it is I’m chasing already be there at every step...?
Could I possibly find it, see it, experience it... if I was was just willing to slow down or stop and look around?
I think it’s
very possibly
so...
I need to remember my walk in the woods...
I need to keep listening and leaning into silence.
I need to slow down...
stop, at times, even...
care
less
about time...
and more
about
life...
...
Stop...
Listen
carefully.
Look up
and
around...
Experience
beauty
everywhere...
Breathe...
Smile,
JOY!
In harmony,
Nestor