Stillness {Day 14}: Being Still - Is it the new bon bon?

The running joke is that the life of a stay-at-home mom involves a fair bit of bon bon eating and soap opera watching.

Reading through the posts of the last 2 weeks, I have to ask myself:  is there a whole lot of eye-rolling going on out there as I tell you all about Stillness, and the small moments of Still that occur in our days?

Sure, I hear someone [ah, the mythical Someone] muttering - sure, it's all well and good to talk about Stillness when you're messing about with preschool pickups and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Of course you have moments of Still - you've got naptime in your house, for the love of Barney!  Meanwhile the rest of us are enduring meetings, taking calls, commuting ridiculous distances.   There's no time for stillness in a life this busy!

Maybe.

But I think there IS time.

You see, Stillness is not so much the absence of other activity.  Stillness is not so much the lack of occupation.

The practice of Stillness has everything to do with grasping your occupations - and your preoccupations - with a firm hand, telling them just a minute.  I will be with you in just a minute.

For just that minute, or even two or even FIVE if you're being really profligate with your peacefulness, leave those occupations exactly where they are.  Freeze frame. 

When I worked I used to keep an amazing hand-thrown vase on my desk, as a focus for those moments of Stillness.  As a mom, I've been known to use chubby fingers or Lego creations for the same purpose. 

Take those minutes to be fully aware of your place in the world, of the outrageous gifts that surround you (autumn leaves, good health, shoes that don't pinch) and of all that makes up your world. 

There is time.  There is always time to still your mind, and be grateful.