Tag: Quiet

What I See Now …

~ Majella ~ 3 Comments

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes.
~ Marcel Proust

After decades on the go—raising children, working, rushing through days filled with purpose—life slowed me down. Not by choice; by necessity. The rhythm of my days changed five years ago, anchoring me firmly to home.

Over time, I’ve come to see things from a new perspective: clouds drifting across the sky, the way light shifts across flowers or along the fence. It’s not a scientific interest, just a quiet curiosity and appreciation for what’s around me.

There are gifts it seems, in this slower, simpler tempo of life.

~ Image credit: Alissa Nabiullina on Pexels

The Garden Waits …

~ Majella ~ 5 Comments

When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.
~ Minnie Aumonier

There is always music amongst the trees in the garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it.
~ Minnie Aumonier

There’s something grounding about getting my hands dirty in soil. In a world that often moves too fast, and demands too much, my garden waits unmoved by expectation or pretence. It’s where time slows, senses awaken; gentle breeze on skin, birds chattering, wafting scents. Nature; soothing body, mind, and mood.

~ Image my own

The Shift: Meditating for the Right Reasons

~ Majella ~ 7 Comments

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
~ Buddha

For over 40 years, meditation has been a constant companion in my life. But for most of that time, I held it with a tight grip—viewing it as a tool to banish what I didn’t want to feel. I sat in silence trying to erase the tension in my body, hush the noise in my mind, and sweep emotion under the carpet.

In hindsight, I wasn’t meditating with my experience. I was meditating against it.

It took the unplanned space that followed the end of my working life to open another door. The pace slowed; urgency dropped away. And in that space, I began practicing differently.

Not to escape. But to stay.
Not to fix. But to listen.
Not to transcend experience, but to lean gently toward it.

The shift hasn’t happened overnight, but it’s there, and it’s ongoing. Now, my practice isn’t about getting rid of anything—it’s about making room for whatever arises, without resistance.

There’s an emerging peace in not needing to shape the present moment into something more pleasant. There’s freedom in allowing what is, without trying to reshape it.

Sometimes we begin for one reason and keep going for another. And that’s okay. The practice doesn’t mind. It welcomes us back whenever we’re ready to stop striving—and start simply being.