Are you a busy bee? I’m am! Always moving, fidgeting, wiggling about! I can remember being little eating spaghetti at my uncle’s house sitting halfway in a chair, one cheek on, one cheek off, wiggling, moving, squirming all over the place. I can close my eyes and hear him say, “Melissa Ayn sit still and eat your dinner.” I am pretty sure I drove him a little crazy with all the vibration and buzzing around the dinner table. We laugh about it now, it’s a sweet memory!
Life is buzzy! Instant coffee, microwaves, fast drying nail polish, we don’t have to sit still for too long. Waiting is a lost art for sure. Most of us have forgotten how to slow and be still. It takes effort now to do so. Our fast paced lives demand we move and move quickly.
I am still pretty fidgety – if you sit near me for any length of time you will notice. I still wiggle and squirm in my chair. Cross my legs, uncross my legs, lean in, lean back, spin my hair into a bun, play with my necklace…wiggly! I kind of drive myself a little crazy now (Sorry Uncle J, but know that I get you now – driving myself a little batty with all the vibration and buzzing about.) It’s hard to slow…
Some are better than others at slowing, letting time morph into crawl where they find themselves capturing the minutes and savoring the moments. If you are wired like me – this is much harder. Quiet takes practice and purposeful cultivating. I’m sure this is true for all types, I don’t think this day and age in our culture “slow” comes naturally for anyone but some are better at slipping into it faster. Like a favorite pair of soft slippers they can’t wait to get back to – they run to the side of their bed to find them waiting and easily ease right back into with little to no effort once the move toward them is made. For me, I have to find those doggone slippers first. Kicked under the bed, moved to that bathroom, left on the back porch? Where the heck did they go??
Making space for quiet stillness to silence and slow.
Doesn’t that sound nice? Did you take a deep breath as you read that? I did when I wrote it!
How can you silence and slow?
How can you cultivate quiet?
How can you make space for stillness?
Stillness Practice comes when I write, when I leisurely walk my dog, when I notice the sunrise in the morning and slow to capture with my camera, when I call my mom to chat while driving to pick up my kids, when I notice that full feeling when eating and stop before my plate is empty, when I sit and really listen to the stories of my middle schoolers day, when I look into my husband’s eyes when I kiss him, when I enjoy the sweat and heart pound while doing lunges at the gym, when sipping a cup of coffee with a friend and holding space for each other’s heart stories..
Being intentional in the time, causes my heart to quiet and settle. The everyday things I am doing when
intentional in the time
settles, quiets, captures and slows.
It’s so great when you can stop in at a yoga class, take a bubble bath, sit in contemplative prayer, go for a leisurely bike ride. When your schedule allows to purposefully slow – those moments are amazing, but everyday life doesn’t usually offer such expanse.
It’s not about changing what you are doing, it’s about capturing it in what is already happening in the everyday moments that make up your life.
Intentional in the time that is your life.
