Comments on: Stillness

By: the dharma bum

the dharma bum — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:03:05 +0000

thank you lene. and thanks for providing so many interesting and inspiring writing prompts the past few months. it’s been really, really helpful in keeping my motivation up amidst a lot of distractions.

i think you’re onto something with trying to identify and explore the moments when we feel “stillness” in urban or “non-natural” environments. i know i have felt it in those types of surroundings, but i don’t feel like i usually have the time and clarity of mind to appreciate it when i’m surrounded by all the distractions of our modern environments. but that only makes it more interesting to study and discuss. i’ll try to pay attention and i’ll post something up on it when i have something worth saying. hope you and everyone else will do the same.

By: Lene

Lene — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 01:47:28 +0000

Great post (third to say it, I know–you’ve got a lot of fans out here). I think it would be fun to explore moment we feel that same stillness we experience in the natural world when we’re on a bus, a plane, walking in NYC. I think we can carry it with us (or do we find some solace there too, maybe in the safety of crowds?).

By: the dharma bum

the dharma bum — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 21:10:40 +0000

eric and rosie, thanks for taking the time to comment. i'm glad you liked the post. and moreso, thanks for very interesting, insightful comments. i think you are both spot-on. eric, i dont know why stillness tends to reside only in natural environments, but i think it does. i believe it can also reside in the works of humans: art, love, and maybe if i write it well enough, it can live in words? nonetheless, i will go forth into the woods as long as i'm able to, seeking that ephemeral stillness. i feel like i should quote some sigurd olson here, but i won't. but i feel that undisturbed time in the woods is essential to the human spirit and soul. it is as important as art and love... rosie, i'm with you, i don't get how people can "appreciate nature" when they're riding a noisy machine. maybe they're just seeking recreation, nothing more, not to connect with the woods or enjoy nature. and i never want to tell someone else how to live, but what about when their recreation, important but superficial, interferes with my attempts to experience something more meaningful? all i can do is quote again the mr. rogers quote i posted a while back and that you and i have discussed before:

â€œWe started with silence and I will always uphold a personâ€™s right to silence.â€

thanks again for the comments.

By: rosie

rosie — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 19:08:21 +0000

bum, great post–really got me thinking. eric, that’s a good point about the snowmobiles and their noise. it’s one of the conflicts i can’t resolve when people say they snowmobile or four-wheel to enjoy nature. those machines only shoot you from end of nature to the next. but on foot or ski, etc., you’re connected with and to experience mother nature on all her levels, not just visually.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 13:09:59 +0000

Dharma bum, great post.
Recently I’ve taken time and pondered the same stillness that you described. Two weeks ago I was back country in Colorado cross country skiing. The group I was with were there to snowmobile and once they roared by and I was left alone,the stillness brought a great peace I’d been seeking when deciding to travel. The majesty of the mountains, architecture of branches holding snow, and changing light filtering through clouds only enhanced the stillness to dead calm. Its interesting that this stillness tends to reside in beautiful natural enviornments, maybe thats why I also seek them out.