Regularly falling into the silence behind all things.

14 Jun 2012

take time

Do you know, that it took me 38 years to learn to stop? Stop doing, stop thinking, stop analysing, stop busyness, stop trying to fit in 5 lifetimes into one, stop fretting over Time and it's seemingly swift-swift passage.

How startling it was, to find, in the not doing, a fullness.

{teapot for one - £4
pre-loved with Cory}

"I told her tea bags were just a convenience for people with busy lives and she said no one is so busy they can’t take time to make a decent cup of tea and if you are that busy you don’t deserve a decent cup of tea for what is it all about anyway? Are we put into this world to be busy or to chat over a nice cup of tea?"
‘Tis: a memoir, Frank McCourt

•
read: les miserables, re-read
taste: beer-battered fish
see: finally decided, it is ms austen
hear: nakamarra, hiatus kaiyote
think: the novelty of leaving the house without a small child
feel: studious

▲
{Here tomorrow with Keeping it Real}

21 comments:

  1. Hi, I am 32 and 4 lifetimes to many- Just when I thought that I couldn't handle another craft tutorial or 2 year olds birthday sharing post/blog, I find you and the wonder land of reads through your links... Thanks, if I get it together I might link to your keeping it real gathering... oh and I put you on my blog role so as to shine the way here, for more lost souls. regards *

    ReplyDelete

  2. that gives me hope. still haven't learned it... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. and it remains a process you know ;)

      Delete

  3. well if that isn't a grand truth, i don't know what is...

    i love that quote.....

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete

  4. I do love that quote.

    I have moments of nothing. But more often, I have moments of too many somethings. Worry, anxiousness, doing, just too much in general. Glad you've found a place of pure nothingness. Better a little late than never!

    ReplyDelete

  5. i always ask myself 'what will bring me joy right now?'--
    sometimes, doing and other times not doing. as long as i am fully present in
    whichever one i choose or need at that time then that is alright with me.
    yet, i have noticed that i need to 'take more time' to just 'stop'.

    ReplyDelete

  6. I haven't stopped yet and am not sure if I'll ever learn how to. Do you think that's okay as well?

    ReplyDelete

  8. I think you've done a great job, mastering the art of 'stopping' at 38! I'm nearing 41 and I've only just begun to practise. Damn, it's HARD when you've always been the analytical type!

    Glad to have 'found' you again - kept checking bohemian twilight and thinking 'where has she gone?'. :-)

    x E.

    ReplyDelete

  9. love all of this. I relate to the first part so very much. And that quote - it definitely makes one pause and think.

    ReplyDelete

  10. I would rather chat over a nice cup of tea... although I must admit it took me 40 years to realize that ; )

    ReplyDelete

  11. I think it's great to learn to grab life by the horns and then learn to let all the clutter go.

    I wish my husband could learn to slow down and savor life. He actually donates his vacation time at work at the end of the year because he has too much time saved up to roll over to the next year. I think that's called workaholism?

    ReplyDelete

  12. Hello Monica!
    I came here from Boho Mom's blog.
    I am surprised by the similarities that I am finding in our thoughts right now.Aand guess what, I have written something similar in my latest blog post on a cup of tea. I am a self taught photographer myself and also paint and write poetry from time to time.
    I loved reading this post and the inspiration that came with it.
    Please check my blog if you are interested, I think we have so much in common !
    Love,
    Sanghamitra
    {from India }

    ReplyDelete

  13. Stop!? You mean we could actually stop?! Lol...Well I have my moments where I remember to stop, but having it become a daily practice is not within my reach yet. Maybe when the kids are older. Maybe when I actually start that meditation practice I have always danced around, maybe when I'm 60, lol...Regardless, it's always inspiring reading about others and how they have stopped, and if anything it deposits a coin in my stop bank and gives me a full day of remembering--for which I am always grateful :)...
    xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Oh and that quote, it's wonderful. I think the French (among other Europeans) have got this down to an art form-though Paris may be an anomaly from the rest of the country I think, lol. Parisians seem to run around everywhere!

      Delete

  14. Yes. And the quote is magnificent x

    ReplyDelete

  15. good for you, if you did it at 38- you're way ahead of the game.
    sweet teapot for one!
    XO

    ReplyDelete

  16. ciao monica, oh how i love this post. i am nearing 39 in a few weeks and am just starting to really sow those oats of "no, thank you", "enough", "basta!" - what wisdom there lies within that ability. xx

    ReplyDelete

  17. So so true about taking time and finding time. I've been feeling very busy in the head the last couple of years worrying about the kind of life I should be leading rather than the one I'm actually living. Such a good reminder too about the slowing down potential of tea!

    ReplyDelete

  18. I love that quote. I am also very glad to hear that I still have time to learn the "not doing".
    Here's to a well made cup of tea!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)