To be is not just
“to have existence.” It is to have life or reality; to live; to be alive; to be
present; to be extant; to remain, stay, rest; to continue; to dwell; to flow, constitute, survive. It even means to coruscate, sparkle, scintillate.
***
I become awed by the hummingbird's flash of red, the iridescence of his little body, the blur of his wingbeats. Whatever I was saying to whomever on the telephone is taken from me and all I can do is to stare at the tiny miracle just inches from my arm.
***
We do not say “do creative;” we say “be creative.” That is the place from which we can get more whole,
more free, selves: for writing, art-making, being in nature, being with
self. It is all about be-ing. This leads
me back to the crux of what I seek for my own life and encourage in others’. It
is where I can abide in my own depths – being creative, being still, being
quiet, being reflective, being in solitude, being peaceful, being in the
moment, being present. I don’t use “doing” before any of these. I would never
write: I am doing reflection, doing stillness, doing quiet or solitude or
peace. Always these call me into being.
***
I had to get away from the computer and, worse, the
half-finished bits and pieces of conversations in my head that kept
interrupting my concentration. I needed space, movement, air. I had a longing
to feel my muscles stretch and move. Mostly, I had the overwhelming need to
abide in nature…As I crested the hill midway in our miles-long hike, I was
struck into total stillness by the Utter Silence around me. Traffic, people’s
voices, dogs’ sniffing and barking, even the swooshing wind vanished. It was all gone. And for
several blissful moments I heard not even the usually-welcome birdsong. Just
pure quiet. What was outside of me seeped within and there, too – in my
innermost being – I experienced complete silence. It was in that instant that I
truly experienced the power of how silence heals.
All blog images created and/or photographed by Jennifer J. Wilhoit unless otherwise noted.
