“NATURAL WORLDS”
 
 
 
 
Here is a radical thought that is gaining some momentum – taking some truly quiet time for one’s self – no pressures, no deadlines, no thoughts of work or worries about the needs of other people. No TV or video games – no shopping or searching for bargains. Maybe even nothing to do at all, except to re-connect with your inner self...
Yesterday, I took the day off. I drove with a friend along the sunny lakeshore of Montreal island, a long lazy road, where a sign at one entry point sets the tone: “This is the beautiful Lakeshore Drive. If you are in a hurry, take the highway.”
I had not taken a whole day off in a long time.
My “no-down-time” stretches back to the day Nicholas died, on October 14, 2004. He and I had been planning to take a lot more time off – we had rented a wonderful little lake house from a good friend for the fall months and we had other small get-aways in mind as well – knowing that deeply quiet time was not only a precious commodity but also a great necessity for our mutual health. We had both worked awfully hard for several years. Me, on music. Nicholas, on Red Flags.
One of my last happy memories of Nicholas (in late September) was looking out of the big lake-house picture-window down to the long boat dock to see the back of his head as he lay on a deck-chair and gazed contentedly at the loons floating on the otherwise serene lake. He had been sitting out there for a long time that day – doing nothing. He told me later that he felt more peaceful during those few hours than he had in years.
Then, a week later, the unthinkable happened – Nicholas had a heart attack and died – (in some part due to the years of stress from overworking.) And then for me, unexpectedly, began a long period of anything but quiet time.
After Nicholas’s death, many concerned and generous people said to me that I must take time off to grieve: “Don’t start anything new;” “Don’t make any big decisions.” “Be sure you have lots of free time;” “Rest a lot;” “Get a weekly massage;” “Spend time with family and friends.” All very good advice that I ignored at the time, knowing that if Red Flags was going to survive and thrive, the site needed attention now, not 6 months down the road.
And looking back, I feel I did the right thing. Working on Red Flags, which had been Nicholas’s dream health site, has kept an important site moving forward and it has also helped to keep him close to me. Some days, knowing that I had to get up and work on Red Flags was the one and only reason that I got out of bed.
 
But yesterday’s idyllic lake ride reminded me of what Nicholas had said about feeling peaceful. He also spoke at that time about how easy it was to not take time off. That many people got hooked on the frantic pace – perhaps even fearing the idea of quiet time; “What if I am alone with myself and there is nobody there?”
And then this morning Bea Magnan (our news hound as well as Red Flags’ Editorial Assistant), alerted me to two articles that explored these same ideas emphasizing the fact that increasingly greater numbers of people are booking a variety of solo, even silent retreats instead of the more typical run-here, run-there holidays.
At Red Flags, we too have been thinking about this underplayed aspect of health. We plan to do more articles on finding greater balance – and we will open a special section called “health, arts & leisure.”
For our members, we also plan to create a digital meditation room – where visitors can see quiet images and pictures, hear specially-created, serene music and read an occasional article or poem that may help to still the racing mind.
We are a site that raises Red Flags about many deeply troubling health issues, but we also know that good health derives from a life in balance and we will make room to encourage better health in these small, but important ways.
As for myself, I plan to do “nothing” a little more often this summer. And hopefully I will write some music for the meditation room that is inspired by those peaceful, idle times.
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To read more "Notes" from Barbara Lewis - click here.
Silence is golden 
“In an increasingly busy and stressful world, more and more of us are visiting retreats in an attempt to stay sane. All we want, it seems, is peace, quiet - and a space to be alone, says Kate Kellaway…”
How To Be Idle: An Interview with Tom Hodgkinson
On the insane hustle of modern life and the virtues of kicking back.
RADICAL THOUGHTS ABOUT SERENITY

Friday, November 24, 2006