Amidst the Water Lilies, the Sky, the Clouds…Replenishment

Water Lilies and Reflection © 2014 Bo Mackison

“What call thou solitude? Is not the earth with various living creatures, and the air replenished, and all these at thy command to come and play before thee?” ~ John Milton

Becoming aware of limits. Of the need for time to rest and replenish.

How much can I schedule in one day or one week or even in one month or one season? And when I have completed my work, how do I replenish, refill my well?

By slowing down. Leaving space in my day and my evening time. Planning, in necessary, twenty minutes of nothing time. Just observation and awareness time. No phone, Facebook, email checking, messaging. No television, music, sports in the background. No reading, writing, or ‘rithmetic!

“I cannot have enough of the hours of silence when nothing happens. When the clouds go by. When the trees say nothing. When the birds sing. I am completely addicted to the realization that just being there is enough.” ~ Thomas Merton

Day dream. Watch the outdoors through a window. Notice how the wind swirls through the leaves of nearby trees. Or how the clouds drift across the sky.

Better yet, connect with nature by heading outside.  Stand barefoot in the grass and connect with Mother Earth. Close your eyes and hear the sounds in the environment. Silence, when listened to closely, turns into chattering and trills, a bird symphony. Breezes rustle the dancing leaves in the trees and shrubs, and whispers through the taller grasses.

I have put slowness into my photography practice. A time when I purposely keep my camera is in its bag and I sit and just watch. Watching the water garden, I noticed dragonflies and damselflies flit across the reflection pond. Bees sipped nectar from the water lilies and a turtle glided underwater, occasionally breaking the surface of the water. Clouds slid across the pool, reflecting sky in water.

Replenishing my well.