Friday 10 August 2012

...the myriad things...


I find it very difficult to relax.

When I read posts about sitting still
enjoying the sunshine, reading a book,
I feel envious and a little mystified.

There is always a list of chores
unrolling noisily in my head
and I have not discovered how
to switch it off, to make space.

I know all about the techniques
which teach you to use your time
but what I want to do is unlearn them,
to rediscover how to let go,
to give the myriad things a rest.

Is it possible?

12 comments:

  1. You won't ever read about me sitting still.

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  2. I lay still today for two hours while My six week old grandson slept on my chest. He took two short breaths for every one of mine. I listened to the sounds of his mother in the kitchen creating a fruit tart and never wished for one second to be anywhere else doing something different. I experienced relaxation. It will come.

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  3. Unfortunately, I seem to have developed quite a knack for letting go as the bum shaped indent on my sofa and state of my kitchen floor will stand witness to.

    It's the Olympics. Cannot stop watching.

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  4. Well I achieved a personal best yesterday as my post will testify. I sat still in the garden for the length of time it takes to drink a cup of tea. My body may have been still. Unfortunately my mind was not.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Not sure about that one, if I can make space in my brain I will give it a thought or two.

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  7. I find it very difficult - like you everything that needs doing and I'd like to do runs on in my head. So I do what needs doing hope there'll be time for the rest and just sitting comes a poor third......

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  8. I wish I could stop all those thoughts in my head that go back and forth, up and down, run, cross, fight with each other and don't.give.me.a.break.
    It's killing me lately.

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  9. I can do it if I close my eyes and listen very hard. I concentrate on what that sound would feel like and what colo(u)r I would use to describe it. The air conditioning a gray green, the siren a yellow-orangey-red, the car driving by a silver-gray streak, the sound of a door a sharp electric blue. Or maybe a florenscent pink. After 4-5 minutes I feel relaxed and can get back to work.

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  10. I simply can't stop the cacophony in my mind.

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  11. Let me know when you discover how!

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  12. My mental 'to do' list does pester me I am afraid, however I have found I can relax in the conservatory, it is the quality of light that draws me in and once in there I can do happy things - listening to Richard Burton on my iPod in Under Milk Wood, it works for me.

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