seeking stillness

cultivating a kind of motion that can coexist with stillness.

People who don't pause exist more in their head than their body. The mind is top-down, rigid, quick, enforcing an established view. The mind is waiting for the other person to be done so they can say what’s rattling around inside. The body is slower, needs more time, and then words bubble up organically, one after another, without planning. People... See more

shani • 21 observations from people watching

I remind her we have some of our best downloads in the spaces between thinking—when shampooing our hair in the shower, or taking a walk to look at the Christmas lights, or laying on a yoga mat.

uploads and downloads: the uploads are what happen when we’re living in the moment, collecting experiences, but we also need to make time for the downloads, connecting dots

Here, in my late thirties, I want to learn his nature-slowness. This, for me, is a change. It is the opposite of the kinds of drama that used to make me feel reassuringly alive. But I think I’m finally getting it. This kind of living isn’t the absence of story or of life. It’s just a story happening so slowly you can’t really see it taking place.

shani • 21 observations from people watching

Christina Joyce Hauser • The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays