The Seduction of a Silent Sunday Morning.
Somehow it’s different. It’s like when you wake up in the morning and there’s snow outside muffling the sounds around you, or when a particularly thick fog bank descends and blocks out the world.
It's magical, that moment. It’s like the world is holding its breath, quivering with anticipation as it waits for something special to occur, such as the start of a new day or the passing of one season into another.
A quiet Sunday morning can be like that for me.
This last Sunday, as I awoke, I was greeted again by the feeling of possibility and potential. The house was quiet because everybody was sleeping super late. When no-one else is awake, it feels like I’m the only one in the house, and yet I also feel a sense of responsibility to not disturb them, which can be really hard with a 5 month old puppy who can hear the fridge open at 25 yards.
Thankfully, I was able to move around silently enough to maintain that beautiful ambiance for a couple of hours.
So I enjoyed every silent minute.
And yet it’s different than the same situation on a weekday morning or even a Saturday morning. For some reason Sunday just feels different; like the world is taking a deep breath and doing its best to find its center in the midst of the chaos of the week. I find I can plan things with a different vision and my brain seems to process with less distractions.
And as somebody who is incredibly disorganized and should probably be diagnosed with ADHD, less distractions are a wonderful thing.
I’ve spent a great deal of time trying to find silence in my life. As a young man I would drive to the ocean, which was only 10 minutes away, and walk along the beaches, feeling the wind in my hair, hearing the ocean pounding into the shore and smelling the salt on the air. Even now, I wonder why that particular combination holds so much power over me.
And how can I feel more of it in my life.
As I meditate on the truth of a quiet Sunday morning, and a walk on the ocean, I am reminded that both of these environments are the stimulus for a state of mind; but they are only stimuli, not essential components.
The peace that I feel in either of these situations is available to me anytime, if I choose to train my mind to feel that particular way.
But sometimes it’s just nice to have the universe arrange it for me. To be able to sit quietly, listening to the world move gently by, and marvel at the wondrous blessings and opportunities that we have been given. Focusing not on what could be, but finding the joy in that which is, and has been.
This life is good. It can be hard, sometimes incredibly so, but we are here, in this beautiful world, at this time. We are blessed with incredible technology, and gifts of healing and sharing. What a time to be alive.
May you find the joy of gratitude and peace today in the still quiet moments of your soul.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings