DAY TWO – SOLITUDE

Alone. By myself. Quiet.  These are favorable conditions for exploring the interior life.  No distractions, no diversions, no noise and no interruptions. Silence is a welcome change from the ordinary, everyday business of living and working, of being in a family or a community and extracting myself for these brief moments of looking and listening to inside information.  One of the first things we often hear or become aware of more consciously is our breathing.  We can feel every breath as we take it in and let it out and yet our breathing all day is seldom regarded consciously. It is most often automatic and taken for granted.

As I consider the benefits of gaining new information about myself without any outside influences, I can begin to be more comfortable in my solitude. Many people are restless and find it difficult to sit still in a quiet mode for very long.  One way to increase that time, if you find it appealing, is in small increments until you feel ready to spend more and more time, or an entire day or more in solitude.

Becoming aware of what emerges on my mental and emotional landscape in these quiet moments can give me important information about where my energy is going and whether I want to shift my attention and focus on something different.  Or I may wish to explore those that appear immediately in greater depth and detail at a later time by noting what they are and why they may have appeared just now.  What is important now is now, this moment in time with myself. The past is gone, the future is not yet. Now is not only the best time, it is the only time available.

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