Day 14: The Sound of Birds in Flight

Solitude is not just about being alone - it is also about Silence ... and Listening.

We need a place of quiet where we can listen long enough to stop hearing the madness of our own monkey-mind and really hear what is just beyond the noise. What I hear there is never the same, but it always gives me pause. Did you know that a bird’s wings make a rather loud noise while they are in flight? I didn’t! Until one day I hiked out into the desert in Joshua Tree and found a secluded spot to think and invite the silence. I know that several birds flew past that spot in the first hour or so that I was there, but my mind was still making lots of noise ... What about next week at work? What about the balance on the credit cards? What about the friend who hadn’t called? Did I say something wrong? Again? What about, what about, what about ... and then I finally got to the end of my list of things. It had been more than an hour (maybe two!) of what’s and what if’s!

When I finally stopped thinking about things that weren’t present, the first thing I heard was the wind. Now, to be fair, I had heard the wind during the previous two hours ... but, I hadn’t really heard the wind, if you get my gist. I had heard the wind as it howled its way past me, but hadn’t noticed how I could actually hear the wind sweeping across the desert floor in the valley below with a low baritone sound that climbed in pitch and intensity as it came off the desert floor rushing toward the cooler temperatures on the mountain. As my mind cleared, so did my awareness! I realized that by really listening to the tone of the wind I could predict its intensity. I became aware of my surroundings in a way that I had missed during my busy-mind period when all I could hear was the din of distraction. The boring brown of the desert was replaced with vibrant red and orange tinged sands that were contrasted with verdant green cactus and creosote bushes that I noticed were blooming minute yellow blossoms ... when once again I turned my attention to the Silence.

Silence is journey to the center of things. It isn’t really silent at all. It is a journey away from distractedness and back to the present moment. Eventually, my thoughts returned to viewing my inner landscape, but this time it was different. There was a calm I hadn’t experienced in the first few hours of my time in the desert, a calm that let me travel deeper into my own wilderness. I remember feeling at Peace even when dealing with troubling things. As if the sound of the birds’ wings, or the wind or the colors of the desert were telling me that I was ok even in the midst of turmoil.

I left wondering why I don’t seek Silence more often. In fact, I am wondering that same thing this very moment!

“Unfortunately, in seeing ourselves as we truly are, not all that we see is beautiful and attractive. This is undoubtedly part of the reason we flee silence. We do not want to be confronted with our own hypocrisy. ... It is harrowing journey, a death to self - the false self - and no one wants to die. But it is the only path to life, to freedom, to peace, to true love. ... We cannot give ourselves in Love if we do not know and possess ourselves. This is the great value of Silence. “ From A Place Apart - by M Basil Pennington

#Journeyof1000Days #Intentionality #Solitude #TheJourney #Paradigm