Quote of the day: “Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . ” ― Frederick Buechner, Telling Secrets
The illusion of control permeates our culture. We think that if we work hard enough, worry enough, manage enough, do enough, and protect enough, that we and our loved ones can be safe from harm. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When I let go of the reins of trying to control and enter Wordlessness, my life is transformed. Instead of being filled with doubts and worry and effort, my life is filled with ease, joy, creativity, and gratitude. Old habits and monkey-mind tend to take me back into the habit of trying to control, but with daily discipline, it is getting easier to embrace this new way of living.
Here are some quick ideas on how to enter Wordlessness:
- Meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Gung
- Dancing
- Sit and after each in-breath, before you exhale, try to perceive the beating of your own heart. Listen to your heartbeat, follow it through your body, sense it in your hands, your feet, your organs
- Listen to your heartbeat while you walk out in nature
- Light a fragrant candle. Immerse yourself in your senses. Find something that is beautiful in your present environment. Put your full attention on it. Without moving your eyes, listen to the sounds around you. Find one spot in your body that feels comfortable. While still watching beauty and listening to sounds, feel the comfort in the one spot in your body. Breathe in the fragrance of the candle and focus on that too. Practice focusing on all of these sensations at once.
- Singing or playing a musical instrument
- Creating, photographing, painting
- Paradoxically Babble can bring you into wordlessness—repeat a word (like “milk”) over and over again out loud for over 49 seconds. If you’re like me, you’ll find yourself totally immersed in the sounds and playing with the sound and rhythm of repeating the word, and it will be totally disassociated from any “head” meaning
- Hanging around with pets (who live immersed in the wordless now)
Many of the ideas above come from Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want by Martha Beck
What time is it - now, now, now
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