On Silence
- Elleth
- êphal ki-*raznahê
- Posts: 2940
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2010 5:26 am
- Location: in the Angle; New England
On Silence
I found it this morning - that stillness of soul that we seek in the woods.
I had come down the hill from the pasture, and unlike my usual treks stopped on a large stone to simply sit beside the pond.
It took a while after I'd started again to realize something was different.
I was moving without sound - not stalking as one seeks game, nor as one hides from danger - but merely because the stillness within could not bear to break the stillness without.
My feet wended through fallen branches, landing without conscious care only on soft wet leaves. Some ancient instinct must have been guiding my steps, one foot coming down canted here, the next going a bit wide there to miss a twig. Had I been trying, I could never have passed so quietly.
Eventually I broke through the woods into the clearing at the top of the hill, and turned to simply take in the rainy half-naked trees fading into the distance.
The spell did not break until I met the old logging road again.
How I missed this.
I had come down the hill from the pasture, and unlike my usual treks stopped on a large stone to simply sit beside the pond.
It took a while after I'd started again to realize something was different.
I was moving without sound - not stalking as one seeks game, nor as one hides from danger - but merely because the stillness within could not bear to break the stillness without.
My feet wended through fallen branches, landing without conscious care only on soft wet leaves. Some ancient instinct must have been guiding my steps, one foot coming down canted here, the next going a bit wide there to miss a twig. Had I been trying, I could never have passed so quietly.
Eventually I broke through the woods into the clearing at the top of the hill, and turned to simply take in the rainy half-naked trees fading into the distance.
The spell did not break until I met the old logging road again.
How I missed this.
Persona: Aerlinneth, Dúnedain of Amon Lendel c. TA 3010.
- Iodo
- Thangailhir
- Posts: 2112
- Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2017 5:58 pm
- Location: North west england UK
- Contact:
Re: On Silence
Sounds like it was a magical moment
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
- Greg
- Urush bithî 'nKi ya-nam bawâb
- Posts: 4502
- Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:50 pm
- Location: Eriador; Central Indiana
Re: On Silence
And we wonder why we keep at this year after year, almost beyond count.
I was once told that, in parenting, don’t try to force ‘quality time’, just be intentional about ‘quantity of time’ spent with the kids, and those magical quality time moments will happen. Much of the same is true in the woods. More often than not, we’re too distracted by our mundane lives that wait for us to appreciate where we are. Keep going, and the good times will begin to outweigh the ‘okay’.
I was once told that, in parenting, don’t try to force ‘quality time’, just be intentional about ‘quantity of time’ spent with the kids, and those magical quality time moments will happen. Much of the same is true in the woods. More often than not, we’re too distracted by our mundane lives that wait for us to appreciate where we are. Keep going, and the good times will begin to outweigh the ‘okay’.
Now the sword shall come from under the cloak.
- Taylor Steiner
- Haeropada
- Posts: 981
- Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2018 7:31 pm
- Location: Great Falls Montana
- Contact:
Re: On Silence
My words are lost. They wouldn't do justice to the experience(s) you (we) have out there in the fields. In the trees or on the mountains. But let me say I too live for those moments. I'm glad I'm not alone in this as a Ranger/Person. Cheers and well met.
Frodo lives!
Re: On Silence
This reminds me of a piece from this video wherein a Yamabushi priest describes his practice.
"To be frank, I am Yamabushi.
So I guess you are asking what exactly I am, right?
When you write "Yamabushi" in Japanese characters, it consists of two characters.
The first character means "Yama" for mountain, but the second character is made of two parts;
the left part means "person" and the right part means "dog."
In other words, you become an animal when going into the mountain.
Animals do not think too much; they can become part of the wilderness.
In the wilderness, you don't think, you only move as you feel (your surroundings).
Thus Yamabushi live in a world in which you only feel.
That's how I see it.
Yamabushi sense the world around them."
-Master Hoshino
"To be frank, I am Yamabushi.
So I guess you are asking what exactly I am, right?
When you write "Yamabushi" in Japanese characters, it consists of two characters.
The first character means "Yama" for mountain, but the second character is made of two parts;
the left part means "person" and the right part means "dog."
In other words, you become an animal when going into the mountain.
Animals do not think too much; they can become part of the wilderness.
In the wilderness, you don't think, you only move as you feel (your surroundings).
Thus Yamabushi live in a world in which you only feel.
That's how I see it.
Yamabushi sense the world around them."
-Master Hoshino
- Iodo
- Thangailhir
- Posts: 2112
- Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2017 5:58 pm
- Location: North west england UK
- Contact:
Re: On Silence
Agreed
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
- BrianGrubbs
- Silent Watcher over the Peaceful Lands
- Posts: 267
- Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:59 pm
- Location: Birmingham, Alabama
- Contact:
Re: On Silence
Elleth,
I'm not sure if anyone has told you this or not, but your ability to describe something is downright poetic. I was completely transported into the moment, thank you for that!
Brian
I'm not sure if anyone has told you this or not, but your ability to describe something is downright poetic. I was completely transported into the moment, thank you for that!
Brian
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
- BrianGrubbs
- Silent Watcher over the Peaceful Lands
- Posts: 267
- Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 12:59 pm
- Location: Birmingham, Alabama
- Contact:
Re: On Silence
It made me think of this poem by Wendell Berry. I was going to post it yesterday, but couldn't remember the title.
"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."
Brian
"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."
Brian
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.