It could hardly be described as a garret, this beautiful house where I am currently staying. In fact, it has everything one could need – technology by the bucketload, a kitchen to die for, comfort abounding and is surrounded by the beauty of nature. I can even see the flickering of the fire from the wood-burning stove on this grey, damp afternoon.
So why choose here to kick start my writing again? Well, partly because I have the place to myself, my friends who own the place being away on an extended holiday, but mainly because no-one knows where I am. They have an idea of the town but no-one has the address and definitely no-one has the telephone number. If I had a drawbridge, I’d pull it up!
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if I’m a recluse; I love the company of people and would generally be considered the life and soul of the party type. It’s just that, now and again, I need to stop my world and get off for a while.
And everyone would benefit from time spent just being rather than thinking or doing. It’s just that a lot of people genuinely can rarely find time for themselves and many that do live alone are afraid of the silence I’m currently experiencing. No TV, no radio, e-mail and mobile switched off, no noises from the street, no-one else in the house. As I sit and become aware of my surroundings, all I can hear is the hiss of the logs and a clock ticking quietly in the background.
When one is beset with problems or caught in the full flow of stuff happening, the temptation is to keep ‘doing’; the art of just being is lost in a swirl of activity aimed at sorting things out or just working to earn the money to pay bills and creditors. We think ourselves crazy as we formulate plans for how we can improve our lot in life. The thing is, we all need time to stop and just be. Being helps us to focus and have clear sight. Being often sorts out the wood from the trees.
A lot of this weekend has been spent doing – nothing. Space has been stared into, the insides of eyelids have been examined and blood has been heard coursing through veins. As I‘ve concentrated on my breathing, time has slowed down and muscles have relaxed. A few times I’ve drifted off to sleep and other times I’ve ended feeling energized and clear-headed.
Not everyone is as lucky as I am, I know. I have the luxury of an empty house and no-one to look after but myself; I don’t have to stick to meal times, expectations, shoulds and oughts. But everyone can make time to be alone in their head, even if it’s just for a few precious moments before everyone else wakes up.
In that time, just ‘be’. Don’t mentally write shopping lists, plan menus or sort out the day’s wardrobe. Listen to your blood flow, feel your breath in your body and enjoy the beauty of being alive.
Do this every day and you will be amazed at how much more ordered your thoughts are, how much more mental energy you have and how those elusive answers pop into your mind.
If you can find another few minutes every day, write down how you feel in a journal and note how much calmer you are, how your creativity improves and how much more focussed you become as the days go by. Once being becomes a habit, you’ll wonder how you ever did without it - I know I do.
