“To be a contemplative is to learn to trust deep time and to learn how to rest there and not be wrapped up in chronological time. Because what you’ve learned, especially by my age, is that all of it passes away. The things that you’re so impassioned about when you’re 22 or 42 don’t even mean anything anymore, and yet, you got so angry about it or so invested in it. So, this word “contemplation,” it’s a different form of consciousness. It’s a different form of time.” Richard Rohr
This week I am over stimulated and so a check in is due! When I’m not quite sure how I’m doing at this creative living lark, I ask myself a few questions. (The questions change depending on the mood!)
- Am I straying outside my comfort zone now and then and challenging myself?
- Am I getting plenty of time IN the comfort zone too, staring into space, walking in the woods?
- Am I learning new things, making my brain cells travel along new paths?
- Am I producing work in line with my deadlines short and longer term?
- Am I happy, content and living every moment, light or dark?
It’s not like I am reporting to anyone! It’s just something that comforts me. Because yesterday I panicked for a moment when I realised how fast time was whizzing by. I remembered as a girl of about 12 feeling Sunday dragging like a fortnight. I’d like some of that in my life these days.
I met Michael Harding once at a reading and he told me how amazing he thought women in their fifties are. How beautiful, powerful and talented. He is a charming person but I especially like the way he refuses to be anyone’s guru in spite of his popularity.
Anyway in this chat with Yvonne Tiernan, he says that each of us could be our own sanctuary. I knew immediately that this was important. That it is possible. That it is there for the taking.
Breathing. Being part of the living whole. Being here. There have always been Trumps and wars and evil. All over the world and throughout history. It becomes even more important to honour peace and goodness. Our now.
Then Richard Rohr gave me the gift of trusting deep time…. “So, this word contemplation, it’s a different form of consciousness. It’s a different form of time.” And so today I am in that space, my comfort zone, deep time, the now. My very own sanctuary. What is your sanctuary?
I love those questions Catherine. Really good ones to ask yourself.
Thanks Kate! It’s tricky enough to keep the five in balance but some combination of these seems to suit the way I live anyway….
Your photos are very honest yet if I was in that space I would be uncomfortable with the dirt. Through your lens I see, really see, the beautiful colour, the way you capture light is magical. This makes me look afresh at my surroundings, and see the beauty in the everyday. Thank you for sharing your work and your thoughts.
Thank you Mary. Yes photography is definitely all about the light. Hopefully soon some one will love this building back to it’s former glory. It must have been so beautiful.
What a beautiful post, matched perfectly with your images. I needed to hear this today, especially that contemplation goes beyond chronological time, that it is trusting deep time. As I get older, I feel a sense of urgency sometimes, that time is slipping away. This is when I need to be my own sanctuary. And, I love those questions.
Yes Kim the time slipping away is such a nuisance! It’s a great thing to be so fully occupied but one wonders how best to slow things down a bit more…..an ongoing conundrum…..Thanks for your lovely contribution it’s so good to know it’s not just me…
What a lovely, timely post to return to after a few weeks away, doing exactly what you describe. Being my own sanctuary, for me, requires logging off for long periods of time so I can reconnect with the real, non-digital world and everything it brings with it. (Talking of which, either ‘my’ blackbird’s back or there’s a gallus, friendly new one!) I personally believe the menopause makes a lot of us feel we’ve had an automatic app update, or a recalibration, not just because it’s a huge life phase marker for many women, but because of all the health and physical issues that accompany it, issues we’d be daft to ignore. It’s made me weirdly less tolerant of things that never used to bother me, as if all my resources, especially time, have just become much more precious. My sense of time has definitely changed. I often feel like someone’s fast forwarding me with a remote control so quickly that the moments don’t register as intensely as before, unless I make a deliberate effort to be more present, engaged and contemplative. I often find myself astonished at how quickly the time’s flown by. The digital world evolves at a frightening pace, too, which doesn’t help. I often feel left behind, even though I’m not a technophobe. Luckily, being in the flow creatively still widens and deepens my life and seems to let me operate in ‘old time’, so being creative – moodling and just being – are vital constituents of sanctuary for me.
Your words are balm for my soul Janice. I can’t always keep the perspective of being my own sanctuary so thank you for the reminder today!!!!! My rhythm tend to be in short bursts of creative energy followed by solitude. If I don’t get peaceful days, I feel jittery!! But yes every day so precious…..x