Stillness is as stillness does
Walking my dogs today, I happened upon a little black snake. Don’t freak out. It was down near the water and I was up on a bridge.
The snake was curled up on a rock at the edge of the lake, utterly still. I paused with a leash in each hand and just gazed at it. I was captivated by the absolute quiet in that small body as it warmed in the morning sun. I had a moment of connection and felt the complete sense of rest and peace it seemed that little one was experiencing. I stopped. And in that exact moment, a fish glided by under the water, a turtle popped his head up to take a breath of air and all was right with the world. There was no one around and I felt keenly aware of the loving hand of Mother Nature, cradling her children and imbuing a sense of harmony in the natural world around me.
Stillness.
How often do we allow ourselves to just rest?
To just BE?
If you’re me, not nearly enough.
I happened to read a quote by John O’Donohue this week and it plays right into this morning’s experience:
“Stillness is vital to the world of the soul. If as you age you become more still, you will discover that stillness can be a great companion. The fragments of your life will have time to unify, and the places where your soul-shelter is wounded or broken will have time to knit and heal. You will be able to return to yourself. In this stillness, you will engage your soul. Many people miss out on themselves completely as they journey through life. They know others, they know places, they know skills, they know their work, but tragically, they do not know themselves at all. Aging can be a lovely time of ripening when you actually meet yourself, indeed maybe for the first time.”
In the midst of all of the complaining about aging, it’s so nice to read something positive about aging. Meeting ourselves and perhaps for the first time? That sounds amazing.
Join me today, on this beautiful Sunday in June, for some shared moments of stillness. If you find it difficult to settle down, light a candle first. Put on some soft music. Close your eyes and just breathe. It’s wonderful what happens as we come back to ourselves, to rest in the sanctuary deep inside us. Moments of stillness are at the very heart of a daily sanctuary practice.
Sending you so much love and peace.
With gratitude,
Lisa
P.S. Special thanks to my husband Philip for the wonderful title image. He patiently took it for me as we walked one morning this week. There was a reed in the lake water that, from a certain angle, looked exactly like a heart. The heart of the lake? Maybe so.
P.P.S. If you want to learn more about how sanctuary and abundance fit together and details on developing your own daily sanctuary practice, join me this coming week for a free, online, 3-day mini-challenge I’m hosting with my friend and mentor, Kisma. If you sign up, the hour-long sessions will be recorded and shared in the Facebook group we created for the event so you can watch them later, at your convenience, until the end of the challenge. There are also VIP spots open if you want to have life-long access to the material. It’s going to be inspiring and full of sanctuary wisdom! I’d love to see you there.