Sunny Sunday morning and I was sitting down to meditate. I was feeling anxious and my brain was cluttered and I needed to calm myself before I attempted to sit down and write.
As I sat in my chair and began breathing my dog started barking. Some other dog, probably nowhere near my house, was outside. Sound the alarm! I got her to quiet down and went back to my chair. I started over. Slow calming breaths. Then my neighbor began using his table saw. For the love of God! How am I going to get any quiet around here??
It feels like such a great metaphor for life. We often have so much going on in our lives and around us. Taking time to find a little peace and quiet is often challenging. Whether someone is demanding our time or we’ve overbooked ourselves to the point that the only quiet time we get is in when we plop into bed at the end of a long day. Then of course there’s the literal challenge of finding quiet space.
When I worked at Microsoft, I was always so busy and always felt so chaotic.
I used to go to the ladies restroom to literally rest and escape from whatever was back in my office. I probably went to the restroom ten times a day just to enjoy the quiet. I did it unconsciously most of the time.
Not only did I escape to the restroom but I used to escape to Target as well. I loved going to Target. It was completely opposite of the life I was living and it felt so comforting. Not only would I spend my lunch hour shopping there, but often I’d just drive to the parking lot, find a quiet corner, turn off my car, roll down my seat and take a nap. It was heavenly.
It doesn’t have to take much effort to find a little quiet. Even just the few minutes I had breathing in-between the dog barking and the table saw were enough to calm me down.
Can you find a few minutes in your day to close your eyes and breath in the quiet? Whether you need to escape to the restroom or your car, I’m sure there’s some quiet space to be found.
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