Peace in the midst of noise
Sandra Dodd
There's a blog challenge Frank Maier (an unschooling dad) picked up,
and I copied, and some other people copied me, or him, and it's going
around. Each day there's something to write about the best [whatever]
of 2009.
Yesterday it was "peace," and I wrote some on my blog and put some
photos, so I'll give you a link to that, but I wrote about my back
gate, and about being in person with Kirby in September.
It wasn't until I read what Frank wrote that I remembered my whole
"Big Noisy Peace" idea--that peace doesn't need quiet or solitude.
Frank's is awesome and he's talking about his wife (who's on this
list, I think, and other unschooling places as "df" or dragonfly or
Ronnie) and daughters...
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Moment of peace (December blogfest)
Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the
quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?
I was thinking about skipping this one but then decided to give my
take on it. For me, the idea espoused here equates to internal
stillness. I know people who meditate. I think I understand the
concept. The closest I come to that is when I'm soaking in the bathtub/
shower, my mind floating among the quanta. Otherwise, my brain is
always gnawing at something. Always. Except...
Interestingly, I frequently achieve a significant, mind-expanded inner
stillness during animated conversations among the four of us. Chloe,
MJ, Ronnie, and I will be engaged in a spirited discussion which will
then mutate to the point where the three of them are embroiled in some
specific concept, leaving me in a quiet conversational eddy. As I sit
and watch them attempt to unscrew the inscrutable, I find myself
slipping into an exceedingly peaceful state, my awareness open but
unengaged, not actively gnawing at anything, my needs nonexistent, my
wants nonexistent, the flow of time nonexistent. Ronnie, MJ, and Chloe
are intensely engaged, their minds integrating, synthesizing, their
brilliant exchanges of energetic thought almost visible in their
intensity; but in those moments I feel that I am a stillness at the
center of things, the shanti of the East.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
and I copied, and some other people copied me, or him, and it's going
around. Each day there's something to write about the best [whatever]
of 2009.
Yesterday it was "peace," and I wrote some on my blog and put some
photos, so I'll give you a link to that, but I wrote about my back
gate, and about being in person with Kirby in September.
It wasn't until I read what Frank wrote that I remembered my whole
"Big Noisy Peace" idea--that peace doesn't need quiet or solitude.
Frank's is awesome and he's talking about his wife (who's on this
list, I think, and other unschooling places as "df" or dragonfly or
Ronnie) and daughters...
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Moment of peace (December blogfest)
Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the
quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?
I was thinking about skipping this one but then decided to give my
take on it. For me, the idea espoused here equates to internal
stillness. I know people who meditate. I think I understand the
concept. The closest I come to that is when I'm soaking in the bathtub/
shower, my mind floating among the quanta. Otherwise, my brain is
always gnawing at something. Always. Except...
Interestingly, I frequently achieve a significant, mind-expanded inner
stillness during animated conversations among the four of us. Chloe,
MJ, Ronnie, and I will be engaged in a spirited discussion which will
then mutate to the point where the three of them are embroiled in some
specific concept, leaving me in a quiet conversational eddy. As I sit
and watch them attempt to unscrew the inscrutable, I find myself
slipping into an exceedingly peaceful state, my awareness open but
unengaged, not actively gnawing at anything, my needs nonexistent, my
wants nonexistent, the flow of time nonexistent. Ronnie, MJ, and Chloe
are intensely engaged, their minds integrating, synthesizing, their
brilliant exchanges of energetic thought almost visible in their
intensity; but in those moments I feel that I am a stillness at the
center of things, the shanti of the East.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
I forgot the link I mentioned here:
Yesterday it was "peace," and I wrote some on my blog and put some
photos, so I'll give you a link to that, but I wrote about my back
gate, and about being in person with Kirby in September.
http://sandradodd.blogspot.com/2009/12/peace-and-whether-i-exist.html
If any of you want to write something, even just on this list and not
on a blog, I'd love to read other people's peaceful moments and maybe
save some of those that could help other unschoolers.
If any of you did this on your blog, please bring the link here, too.
It's a good topic. Peace can be contagious and that's the kind of
contagion a busy end-of-year holiday season can always use.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yesterday it was "peace," and I wrote some on my blog and put some
photos, so I'll give you a link to that, but I wrote about my back
gate, and about being in person with Kirby in September.
http://sandradodd.blogspot.com/2009/12/peace-and-whether-i-exist.html
If any of you want to write something, even just on this list and not
on a blog, I'd love to read other people's peaceful moments and maybe
save some of those that could help other unschoolers.
If any of you did this on your blog, please bring the link here, too.
It's a good topic. Peace can be contagious and that's the kind of
contagion a busy end-of-year holiday season can always use.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
Here's one, with a quote from the middle of it:
And, in that small, magical moment, standing with the woodstove
warming my back, I had a sudden revelation as all these bits of living
coalesced...
Somewhere, in my sleepy mind, that refrain I used to hear so loudly,
"What a big mess!" was transformed, and I found myself grinning in the
dimly lit room, as the fire threw shadows around, thinking, "What a
big YES!!!"
http://memismommy.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-09-moment-of-peace.html
Shan's blog
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
And, in that small, magical moment, standing with the woodstove
warming my back, I had a sudden revelation as all these bits of living
coalesced...
Somewhere, in my sleepy mind, that refrain I used to hear so loudly,
"What a big mess!" was transformed, and I found myself grinning in the
dimly lit room, as the fire threw shadows around, thinking, "What a
big YES!!!"
http://memismommy.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-09-moment-of-peace.html
Shan's blog
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
memismommy
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
shan
>LOL! I just read this, but you beat me to it! My peace was reasonably quiet, but certainly not tidy! =)
> Here's one, with a quote from the middle of it:
>
> And, in that small, magical moment, standing with the woodstove
> warming my back, I had a sudden revelation as all these bits of living
> coalesced...
>
> Somewhere, in my sleepy mind, that refrain I used to hear so loudly,
> "What a big mess!" was transformed, and I found myself grinning in the
> dimly lit room, as the fire threw shadows around, thinking, "What a
> big YES!!!"
>
>
> http://memismommy.blogspot.com/2009/12/best-09-moment-of-peace.html
> Shan's blog
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
shan