Beauty in the Stillness

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In 1926, writer Rose Wilder Lane wrote of looking out over the grassy plateau in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia:

These interesting poems about silence playfully explore the awkwardness and discomfort of silent situations, providing a lighthearted and relatable perspective on the benefits (and challenges) of staying silent. 1. The Sound of Silence If we miss contentment, then that is often our own fault—and the fault not of our bodies but of our souls.” — Plutarch Today was a lovely day because all I did was sit still in front of the water with a friend of mine and I watched the sun dance on the river and I listened to the people chattering next to me about their dinner yesterday evening and I watched the old man shake his head as he listened to his music and I overheard a dark-skinned man breathing in and out as he ran around the river path and I felt the sensation of the wind blowing through my hair and I engaged in a wholesome conversation that made me feel enlightened and I didn’t question anything that was happening around me and instead I opened my ears and my heart and my mind and allowed the world to continue doing its thing and I took it all in and I think that was what made it so lovely because I didn’t expect nor wish anything substantial to happen, the world just happened around me and I noticed all of it, and somehow the collective efforts of the souls surrounding me allowed me to realize that what is significant in this life isn’t the grand events but instead the micro intricacies that simultaneously intertwine around us, connecting us as one. It is moments like these I wish I could capture and revisit forever. Despair and restlessness go together. The problem is that you can’t flee despair. You can’t escape, with your body, problems that exist in your mind and soul. You can’t run away from your choices—you can only fix them with better choices.”These poems about the power of silence reflect on the many ways in which stillness can shape our lives and encourage us to embrace the inner peace and strength that can come from taking time to be still. 1. The Power of Silence

Clearly, basketball was a refuge for Michael Jordan, a game he loved and that provided him much satisfaction. But in the pursuit of winning and domination, he also turned it into a kind of raw, open wound, one that seemed to never stop bleeding or cause pain. One that likely cost him additional years of winning, as well as the simple enjoyment of a special evening at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Work done for a reward is much lower than work done in the Yoga of wisdom. Set thy heart upon thy work, but never on its reward. Work not for the re- ward; but never cease to do thy work.” I terms of diction and technical quality, it was very easy to understand. The kind of book you can finish in a sitting and feel accomplished having done so. I can see it being very appealing if approached in that intention. This had a very similar feeling to Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey, where you're offered a stream of consciousness that mimics our own in syntax and diction. I quite loved her passages that explored stillness: not what it means, but offering it in a very effortless way. Those moments were eloquent and endearing. They were very enjoyable to read, and where I personally felt that 'beauty in the stillness.' It was Edward Abbey, the environmental activist and writer, who said that even the word “wildness” itself was music. It’s music we can listen to anytime we like, wherever we live, whatever we do for a living. Even if we can’t visit, we can think of traipsing through the pine-bedded floor of the forest, of drifting down a slow-moving river, of the warmth of a campfire. Or, like Anne Frank, we can simply look out our window to see a tree. In doing this, in noticing, we become alive to the stillness.pas elfis missed,your e ef i out ofsight and your current s i numb. But thse periodic moments arc hidden blesings that validate Real love and compassion aren’t about forgiving and forgetting your way through numerous transgressions, violations or betrayals. It’s about being able to let go of the person who would subject you to those in the first place. It’s about knowing you can practice compassion from a distance, knowing that holding someone accountable is one of the most loving things you can do for them. Highly manipulative people don’t respond to compassion. They respond to consequences. Shahida Arabi, Power Poems about Silence in a Relationship explore the many ways in which stillness can shape our connections with others, offering a rich and emotive reflection on the power of silence in our personal lives. 1. Silence

Get out now. Not just outside, but beyond the trap of the programmed electronic age so gently closing around so many people Go outside, move deliberately, then relax, slow down, look around. Do not jog. Do not run … Instead pay attention to everything that abuts the rural road, the city street, the suburban boulevard. Walk. Stroll. Saunter. Ride a bike and coast along a lot. Explore. When the world was at war, while Hitler killed so many millions of people, and as her family spent each day at risk of joining the dead, Anne Frank looked out a small window from the attic above the annex her family hid. “As long as this exists,” Anne thought to herself, “this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?” Some days it was too dangerous to even open the window. Still, in the suffocating heat, the confined quarters, the unrelatable fear, Anne Frank looked out the window and could find in nature the boost she needed. “Beauty remains, even in misfortune,” she wrote. “If you just look for it, you discover more and more happiness and regain your balance.” The Buddhist word for it was upekkha . The Muslims spoke of aslama . The Hebrews, hishtavut . The second book of the Bhagavad Gita, the epic poem of the warrior Arjuna, speaks of samatvam , an “evenness of mind—a peace that is ever the same.” The Greeks, euthymia and hesychia . The Epicureans, ataraxia . The Christians, aequanimitas . Staring at the blue sky, the leafless chestnut tree below, birds swooping and diving in the air, the two were entranced to the point of speechlessness. It was so quiet, so serene, so open compared to their cramped quarters. It was almost as if the world wasn’t at war, as if Hitler had not already killed millions of people and their families didn’t spend each day at risk of joining the dead.

There is great peace to be discovered in beauty, says writer Ryan Holiday. It’s all around us in expected places like nature, love and our loved ones but in less-expected ones, too — the smell of asphalt before the rain, dusty pawprints on a car, the fleeting quiet of an empty inbox.

If you want peace, there is just one thing to do. If you want to be your best, there is just one thing to do. Go to sleep.” KARIX HADADAN HOLDING HANDS WITH THE UNIVERSE When you sk the universe for love, il send you experiences 1 where peopl show their What do we want more of in life? That’s the question. It’s not accomplishments. It’s not popularity. It’s moments when we feel like we are enough. More presence. More clarity. More insight. More truth. More stillness.” Through the various categories of poems about silence, we have been able to see the different perspectives and emotions that come with silence.