Every day, in small ways, I now try to disconnect myself from electronic devices for short periods of time.
That may sound ironic since I am writing this post on a computer and will later talk about it on social media but as much as I enjoy using a computer or an iPhone, I also see that they distract me from participating in the quieter moments of life.
This light bulb moment came to me recently this summer during a couple of visits to our family farm in southern Maryland. When I was a young child, it was more of a working farm with animals and crops but now it is a conservation trust and a beautiful place that I usually check out with other members of my family.
On a particular visit earlier this month, I was in my nephew’s old work truck with my Dad and it was early on a Sunday morning. The sun was bright and high in the sky and we had stopped to check on a portion of the farm where a pond is located. As I sat there on my nephew’s classic camo seat covers, I listened. The motor was off. No one was talking.
It was quiet. Totally silent. Like a quiet I was not used to. I could actually hear myself breathing and feel myself starting to relax.
No electronic beeps. No traffic noises. No stress.
Quiet.
Just nature and me. The silence was so welcoming because it was allowing me to slow down.
To my left was a corn field with seedlings popping up and I could smell that earthy dirt smell and feel the bugs flying around in circles searching for something to land on. To the right of me was a large pond with lots of cat tails growing in the high grass. I was fine and definitely not in a hurry to go anywhere else. I just sat there and enjoyed it for what it was, which was nothing.
And that felt great.
Silence allows us to hear our inner voice, to sift through the things that have happened to us, process them a bit and perhaps try to make sense of them.
Silence allows me to appreciate my blessings, to breath and slowly take a look around and see the simple beauties of nature that hurrying around like a chicken without a head often obscures from my view.
Silence lets me wind down and take care of my mental well-being. Sometimes I think we all just think too much and too hard about the world around us and then we get overwhelmed by our thoughts crashing into each other.
Silence gives me a break where I can stop thinking in order to give my mind a rest.
Maybe you are dealing with a added pressures in your life and you can’t figure out why you feel so drained of energy and direction. Turn off your phone. Turn off your television. Sit in quiet and become acquainted with breathing and relaxing your mind. It may become a source of strength for you.
I love my iPhone and radio and television and computer as much as the next person but the constant connection to them is often too much for me and that quiet space where I try to gather myself and center my thoughts is a golden place for healing.
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