My choice may appear countercultural or perhaps I should
just say “my choice would
be odd for most people.” I was buzzing along, making
great progress on my project “BridgeAbove2012” when I decided to shift gears.
I decided to stop working on that project and spend an hour “language free” visiting a park a few blocks from my home, in quiet.
I had felt myself riding the crest of the frenetic high zone and while it felt good in one respect, I also knew it has a tendency to burn me out. Changing gears was necessary for my creative process and continued progress as well as for my emotional and mental peace.
The hour of silence started with rain, of all things.
Bakersfield gets a whopping (feel my tongue in cheek) six inches of rain a year. Why the sky elected to rain exactly when I wanted some outdoor contemplative time, I am not sure. I decided to lean back in the front seat of my car and look up at the rain falling on the moonroof.
I decided to enjoy these moments from a sensual, sensory immersion and not have any concern about the shape or context of my quiet time.
This choice may also be seen by some as countercultural.
Clickety clack smattering smack of rain on the rooftop was,
if it is possible, a waking lullaby. My breath slowed. I felt the cars go by,
larger cars actually made my car rock a bit as they zoomed by, completely
unaware of the magical silence very close by their minds thinking and plotting
their next destination.
I smelled the invitation of the outdoors. Slightly wet, an autumn smell of returning to the Earth managed to make its way to my “inside the car” contemplation. It was after I basked in those scents that I realized the scents were like a curling finger with come hither eyes attached.
The rain had stopped.
Stepping into the soft soil might as well have been stepping into a spa or stepping into a chapel with sunlight streaming through stained glass windows.
The next twenty minutes were both expansive and intimate.
My friend Sheila would be delighted to know mixed into those
experiences were taking
a photo that included the scat of an unknown animal and
the web of a caterpillar.
I returned to my home office with a completely different vibe emanating from my core: I felt full, I felt grounded, I felt a whole new feeling of accomplishment.
I felt ready to take on the rest of my project from a wiser,
more rested perspective rather than that frenetic pace that was brewing before
I went out. I
don’t need to create momentum and the rumbling rattling of taking
off like an airplane, I can switch it up.
It is when I take the time to be quiet my highest quality work is born.
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© 2012 by Julie Jordan Scott
