Ten Minutes of Silence

Early morning sun streams through the cool air, unusually crisp for late July. The steam from my coffee rises in swirls and is gently pushed across the rim by a nearly imperceptible southern breeze. I sit at the fire pit to soak up the sun on my face, to feel the warmth penetrate my skin and reach its arms far beneath that outermost layer. The coffee warms my insides as the sun warms the outside and somewhere that warmth meets and produces a relaxed state unequaled. Perhaps yoga comes close, or meditation, but this form, this method, brings me to a point where I regain all my senses that have been dulled by daily chores and obligatory phone calls, intrusive texts, and shouting social media. These senses I need to find the quiet which enables me to hear the tapping of the woodpecker in a nearby tree or a hummingbird’s wings at the day lilies. These heightened senses enable me to see the beauty in the tall backlit weeds rising and arching gracefully out of the fire pit, and suddenly I see the symbolic circle of the pit holding life and death, the bright greenery surrounding the black charred wood. Would I have seen that or absorbed that…because it goes far deeper than sight…if I hadn’t taken ten minutes in the morning sun, reclining and sunk deep, nearly enveloped by the Adirondack chair? I am certain I would not. We go about each day from one thing to the next, like building a daily log home made of tasks. We stack those “logs” all day long, and the mortar between is made of the phone calls and texts and social media.   It is time to change the mortar.  Build your house with quiet moments of peace or conversations with your child.  I know I see the world differently when I can allow space in my day and give myself the freedom to explore thoughts and possibilities or dream about the “what if”.
I challenge myself to take ten minutes each day for 30 days. Will you take the challenge with me? Are you willing to discover what thoughts and observations are within you?