finding stillness

And just like that...another season is upon us!

Days turn to night,
The seasons keep turning, 
Children grow and need us (a little) less.
We get ill, and recover, 
We get older. 

Change happens. Shift happens. 
The only inevitabilities are death, and taxes, as they say. 

Without change, there can be no progress - not so long ago in the grand scheme of things, hot showers, flushing toilets, medical and technological advances were unthinkable and unavailable; thank goodness to be done with the teenage years! Glad to be over the latest bug brought home from school. 

But there are also many less comfortable, painful - even devastating changes;
Our bodies age;
We experience heartbreak;
We lose those we love. 
Wars, dictators tighten their grip; the Earth continues to heat up,
Species go extinct. 

We can feel overwhelmed and powerless to this change as life sweeps us along at a pace.

And for something so inevitable, our human condition yearns for stillness, steadiness and predictability. 

Yet it is also true that some things remain the same.  
And in this stillness we can find steadiness, an anchor in the storm, where we might find perspective and refuge.

There is a kind of stillness at the end of the day, when the kids are in bed and the tasks of the day are done;

More abstractly, 2+2=4 forever;
The events of the past will always have occurred;
Those you have loved you will always have loved; those who've loved you will always have loved you. 

More subtly in our daily lives, there is the tiny pause in each breath, between inhale and exhale; 
at the top of the wave before it crashes down.

Ironically, the nature of change - that it is ever changing, is in itself, unchanging. 

Around us (and within us) is evidence of permanence too; 
The blue sky exists behind the ever-changing clouds; 
The sea is always, even though individual waves continue to swell and crash;
And our awareness is ever present.  Even beyond our busy thoughts.  Stillness is within us, available to us.  Look for it.  Let it sink in.  Explore how it feels and it's effects on you. 

"We can't stop the waves, but we can learn how to surf"

Our new course, Mindful Meditation, is a dedicated exploration into finding stillness.  In mad times, in stressful lives, in the swirl of it all, there is stillness, steadiness and wisdom to be found. Glimpses of the blue sky beyond the clouds.