Meditation: 2nd Attempt

A few years ago, I was back home in Toronto and I was out walking with my husband.  He decided he wanted to go find the shoe tree that was along our route down by the Humber River.  At that particular moment, I didn’t much feel like wandering through the brush, so I opted to sit by the river instead.

As I sat there alone listening to the river and the gentle breeze I simply breathed consciously.  It was a temperate summer day and was very comfortable.  The clean air filled me and surrounded me.  I became so caught up in nothingness that I managed to attract a lovely blue damselfly who chose me as his/her perch.  It landed right on my left hand and seemingly stared at me for a long while.

It was a very peaceful moment that I’ve been missing for some time.

Recently, I’ve been gearing up to start editing my book from NaNoWriMo and have felt the need to shut down the constant assault of thought.

Now it’s near impossible to get pure silence (or a nature-infused one) around here.  There’s a car wash that moved in next door, ticking clocks, dogs barking, stomping elephantine neighbours upstairs, and the radiator hissing intermittently.  So, constant noise.

But despite all that I gave meditation a go today.

I set an alarm for 5 minutes as a friend of mine suggested and just breathed.

The result?

Well, the first two minutes seemed to go by no problem without thought,  then the waves began.  I could no longer shut out the tick-tock of the clock.  But I brought it back and focussed on my breathing…

I wonder how people manage this regularly with a stuffed nose?  Stop it, back to breathing.

*Tamagotchi goes off.*  Stop it, back to breathing.

*Dog starts barking next door.*  Oh for crying out loud!  Stop it, back to breathing.

You know, I could write a blog about this…  Stop it, back to breathing.

I wonder how much longer.  Stop it, back to breathing.

But who gives a rat’s arse about me trying to meditate, I don’t want to seem like one of ‘those people.’  Stop it, back to breathing.

Breathing.

*Timer goes off.*  Hmm, I guess we’re done.

Was peace of mind achieved… not so much.  But at least it was comical.

And HEY LOOK, I’m writing!  Mission accomplished.

Happy Sunday!!

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Photo Credit: Common Blue Damselfly