Drift Me
Night comes and I realize I'm bound up. I can feel it ...as if cords are laced from one part of my insides to another, and little tension-elves are pulling them tight, tight, tighter. My breathing is shallow. I keep sighing, as if to catch elusive breath. The day has done me in, or maybe the week... okay, the month.
It has been long, too long— sitting inside, letting life wrap and tug. I remember these words, written during my year of daily outdoor solitude and I'm filled with the urgency to be freed...
There were days when I would go outside only to think, “There is not a single new thing I will find here.” In these moments, it felt utterly true, and I felt I was wasting my time in my excuse-for-a-woods. Then, in the next moment, the trees above me would shudder in the breeze, and something would blow past. Seeds, maybe, releasing themselves to the wind, raining over me.
Then I would start to relax, to breathe. It occured to me that I breathed differently when I was outside, and that with each breath I lost some care of the day. I became a lady’s corset, unstrung by the wind, unlaced by black-capped chickadees.
Why have I gotten away from this? The commitment over, I guess, life rushed back in, but my heart still needs rain, seeds, wind, sky. The Ann's are reminding me to come back to lazy moments, to let God drift me.
Sunset Over the River photo by Sara. Used with permission.
RELATED:
Ann K's book Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families
Ann K's post Catch a Falling Star
Ann V's Slow Down, A Primer
High Calling Blogs Power of the Slowing
elk's Four Windows
Mom2Six's Still
S. Etole's Take Time
LL's Stumble into Loveliness and Morning with the Moon
Kelly's A Broken Still
nAncY's into
Maureen's Reading GoodNightMoon
Bonnie's The Beauty of Whitespace
Esther's Ditch the Leash
Joelle's This
Ann K's From the Rush to a Hush
Jennifer's Hush...
Bonnie's The Call of Love Whispers
DSMama's The Best Part
Kirsten's Cemetery Walking
Monica's Slow to See the Spinning
Jessica's Sit Down!
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Do you have a story to share, about the need to slow down, or your experiences with "slowing"? Drop your link in the comment box and I'll link to you here (links back are appreciated, though not required; that way, others can see what we're up to and share too). Let's celebrate and drift together...
_______
Poetry prompt: Make a "word pool" of at least five slow words. Yeah, I guess molasses counts. But verbs are good too. Create a poem using a minimum of one of your slow words, but feel free to use the whole pool. Post your poem by Thursday, October 22, for links and possible feature at High Calling Blogs. Drop your post link here in the comment box so I don't miss it. Thanks!
Labels: Ann Kroeker, Ann Voskamp, David C. Cook, Not So Fast
37 Comments:
Your posts are small puffs of fresh air into my day :) Thank you for taking the time to do them...they are much appreciated.
:) Bina
I don't have a poem right now - but I really want to write one. I feel that call to quiet - have felt it for a long time now. Even with an empty nest it is so hard to find a few minutes to just be alone. There seems to be a constant noise too. I used to write lots of poems - now I cannot even begin. There is no time to just sit quietly and let the words come.
Perhaps we are all being called to slow down enough to simply be still.
I will often sit on the balcony at our office (which is a converted apartment building) when I'm editing.
It helps to get away from the computer screen.
But I admit that I also enjoy the squirrels that scramble all over this tree, grabbing acorns and throwing the shells down onto the sidewalk beneath where I will eventually walk the articles through our proofing process.
The squirrels don't proof or read or edit. But they can balance on branches so thin that I'm surprised everytime.
Popped in to say hi, friend!
Love this post and the beauty it provokes. One thing I greatly miss is the outdoors without the cement, smog, and people. Your post made me remember those lazy days I had growing up.
i so enjoy reading what is here...thinking that what i posted early this morning fits between the lines...by the four windows
blessings
"I breathed differently when I was outside"...I like this line. I joined Ann V's challenge today - thinking about how I am still each day...http://mom2six-treasures.blogspot.com/2009/10/still.html. I am linking back to your links as well. The collective commitment to be still and know He is God is such an encouragement.
I'm not quite sure how this works ... living in the country has many little daily reminders to just breath in the quiet so I'll leave this link to what I saw. http://susan-moment.blogspot.com/2009/09/take-time.html
I think I have been thinking of the same thing today. I need to get outside and just take life in as it comes. And this needs to be more and more of what I do in all of life. That all is a gift, and that God is at work in spite of so many things.
Good post to help me reflect more on what I've been thinking a bit today.
I should have run across this sooner...
i would love to enter slow and join the party. thanks for the invitation.
http://justsaytheword.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/into/
My contribution, "Resisting the Urge: Reading 'Goodnight Moon':
http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2009/10/resisting-urge-reading-goodnight-moon.html
Oh, thank you for the link - but I meant that I wish I'd seen your post yesterday - it offered a breath for me this morning that I needed... :-)
I loved your post. It made me want to run out and hike in the light October rain, mud slushing underneath my boots and let the "rain, seeds, wind and sky" find their breaths in me.
My contribution is from last week:
http://www.faithbarista.com/2009/10/the-beauty-of-whitespace/
Although I think I will write another post, from this prompt of a post! Thank you.
I am contstanly amazed with the views He creates just for me :)
Trying desperately to slow...
http://outwardexpression.blogspot.com/2009/10/ditch-leash.html
I became a lady’s corset, unstrung by the wind, unlaced by black-capped chickadees.
Oh, how this resonates. Now that the driving rain and howling wind are taking up a steadier residence, I fear these times will not be as frequent. But oh to be unlaced like that -- I cannot unlace it myself.
Thank you for this bit of beauty.
My slowing comes in the wee hours of the morning--before sun comes up. All other hearts are sleeping, but I creep to a special place, light my candle, and stare up at the sky.
And yes, when the trees whisper it stills me. I could feel my breathing changing too as I read your words.
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Thank you for another wonderful prompt!
I wrote a post today that includes a poem, in response to your invitation to "slowing":
"The Call of Love Whispers"
http://www.faithbarista.com/2009/10/the-call-of-love-whispers/
Oh this is just so beautiful
"......and that with each breath I lost some care of the day"
I love it.....and am very overdue for my own outdoor solitude. So today, I am going to do just that.
So I thank you...and thank God for leading me here this morning.
Peace and love~
*~Michelle~*
To me there is nothing like a creek or a brook ...the gentle babble is enough to soothe me and make everything better again
David
www.redletterbelievers.com
I recently did a post telling my favorite thing about having a baby with Down syndrome. And this was it... everything slows down, you can breathe in your baby and take the time to enjoy your walk together through babyhood. And its ok to drift a little because the milestone race is over. What joy!
I must be honest with you. Your posts fascinate and scare me at the same time. The fear of something vaguely familiar.
Nevertheless, you are an incredible writer.
Thank you for sharing your life with us.
I was compelled into stillness recently. It was one of those rare moments in which everything was distilled and clear. Here's a link to Cemetery Walking.
I was thinking the same thing as I sat on the roof of our mission house the other night. Why don't I do this every day?
Jasmine... this fascinates. I wonder why my posts frighten? And I'm so pleased you felt safe enough to say it.
Without this community, I might have missed a really cool "helicopter" show.
A poem here:
http://mybigthree.highcallingblogs.com/2009/10/15/slow-to-see-the-spinning/
Here Fall is coming in fast. But the other night, I walked without the noise of my CD Player. Your description of the wind in the trees, I was no longer at my computer but back walking through my neighborhood. I think cold or not, I will venture out again this weekend. There is nothing more refreshing than Nature.
yes, i'm with annie LL, it's fall, the rain, woods and for me the mountains call. sweet, calm, lovely post, said as i slowly breath in then out again.
I need this, too. I need to sit and listen to the symphony in the air. Check haste at the door on the way out.
I'm not sure if this counts as poetry... but then my whole life is all a part of God's great poem, don't you think?
:)
http://sissypie.blogspot.com/2009/10/disclaimer-this-is-rough-draft.html
What a fantastic post!It seems many of us are needing to slow down and some are actually heeding the call.It really is so necessary to our well being...Blessings~Sharon
Here's my slowpoem:
http://lauraboggess.blogspot.com/2009/10/cheeky-trains.html
Great slowing this week :)
Here's my slow poem:
http://lindaspatchworkquilt.blogspot.com/
Thank you for this prompt!
No word pool, just thinking of slowing.
http://mom2six-treasures.blogspot.com/2009/10/put-on-brakes.html
Slowing. Quiet and being still. These are the themes of fall. I've posted a few times about my own journey in "stillness"...you can choose which you think would be a best fit to link.
I am enjoying the quiet of your blog. Beautiful.
Blessings,
Jessica
my links:
http://jezamama.blogspot.com/2009/10/prayer-distractions.html
or
http://jezamama.blogspot.com/2009/10/sit-down.html
I love these word pools! Here it is:
http://mybigthree.highcallingblogs.com/2009/10/21/calligraphy-slows/
My contribution to the slowing - Slowing at the Faulkner Book House. http://faithfictionfriends.blogspot.com/2009/10/slowing-at-faulkner-book-house.html
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