Sixty seconds of standing still (5)

Posted by feitheachd on Fri 21 Aug 09, 5:05 PM to feitheachd's blog.

My outlook on life and a touchstone that I turn to daily – in fact it's in big bold letters at the top of my Journal – is Kipling's final recommendation:

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run.

From “If” – Rudyard Kipling –

It serves me pretty well because it's a constant challenge, but a challenge that can be determined by what I consider to be a worthy distance – some days I decide it's going to be as far as I can possibly manage and on others I'm satisfied with a few steps.

It serves me pretty well but it means that I'm always looking ahead, I'm always anticipating the next step, I'm always thinking about what might be over the next hill. Sure, I spend an inordinate amount of time self analysing, but even that has to have a purpose – to move me forward in some manner.

So, finding this advice from a less gung ho source has been enlightening:

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries

Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.

From "The Rock" - T.S. Eliot –

This should go completely against the grain, and I rebel automatically at the invocation of God – but there is something in the sentiments that I instinctively appreciate - there is much to be said for standing still, so I think I'll do just that a little bit more in future.

Replies

22 Aug 09, 6:55 PM
Miss_Namio
UK(DT), 5 yrs

I always try to remember I am a human being, not a human doing. Sometimes just standing or sitting and doing absolutely nothing is revelatory.

Lip Up Phatty

23 Aug 09, 3:21 AM
EtaCarinae
CA, 5 yrs

Moments of total silence, immobility and contemplation I view as needed to put the soul together and I believe in their beneficial effects on us that we can't quantify like all other activities. I need those myself and think my submissive does too. The paths to go there are different for one or the other, no need to say, and I am starting to believe, only at my age, that often times, less is more.

I see good mental, physical and spiritual self discipline in perfect regular repetitions of the 60 seconds of standing still that you are talking about. I believe it will strenghten your take on what is essential and I would not be surprised if it did not temporarely apease your mind from racing too much. A well grounded slave is very appealing I find.

Edited 23 Aug 09, 3:23 AM by EtaCarinae

23 Aug 09, 1:08 PM
feitheachd
6 yrs

Miss_Namio wrote:
I always try to remember I am a human being, not a human doing. Sometimes just standing or sitting and doing absolutely nothing is revelatory.

I don't know if it's my genes, my upbringing or my “submissive” nature (probably all three), but I do find it difficult to just be – I'm always focussed on purpose. I do sense however that making the effort every now and then to loosen that focus will be good for me and may even be enlightening. It seems counter intuitive though … … ah, there I go again – over thinking.

"Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should be." ::Johann Wolfgang von Goethe::

23 Aug 09, 1:11 PM
feitheachd
6 yrs

TheMarquise wrote:

T.S.Eliot's 'Four Quartets' were practically my bible for a period of my life. Rarely do I read something by him that does not inspire me.

Thank you for reminding me of this – a few years ago I spent a couple of months studying “Four Quartets” and although it could be hard work at times, that work was always rewarded. This would seem to be a good time to take up that study again.

TheMarquise wrote:

In summary, become her perfection.

Yes, my focus has to be on her perfection, not my idea of what her perfection should look like. To me this can only mean working on being the best I can be in the most objectively general terms, while ensuring that I can always attune myself to particular caprices. I need to think always of the purpose and not to regard any growth as an end in itself.

"Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should be." ::Johann Wolfgang von Goethe::

23 Aug 09, 1:11 PM
feitheachd
6 yrs

Mnemosyne wrote:
Moments of total silence, immobility and contemplation I view as needed to put the soul together and I believe in their beneficial effects on us that we can't quantify like all other activities. I need those myself and think my submissive does too. The paths to go there are different for one or the other, no need to say, and I am starting to believe, only at my age, that often times, less is more.

I've been thinking more and think that I need this time to calm my mind from action and to focus on the purpose of action. I suspect that I can occasionally get carried away with competitive impulses and this can spur me towards behaviour that serves no one. To be well grounded I need to know why I'm doing what I do and I need to take time out daily to remind myself of this and to check that my conduct is authentically founded in long term purpose, not short time self satisfaction.

"Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should be." ::Johann Wolfgang von Goethe::