I was sitting in a meeting today, and for a moment my mind strayed back to yesterday when we were sitting on the deck overlooking the pond and watching a Scarlet Tanager wend its way among the upmost branches of the aspen trees nearby. For that moment I wasn't in a conference room in New Jersey, but here:
And that experience reminded me of one of my favorite poems, by William Butler Yeats. If only I can continue to keep this image "in the deep heart's core," maybe I'll be able to keep calm longer when I'm home! I don't know if it will totally prevent immense frustration and aggravation about the crazy political scene, but it can't hurt.THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE
By William Butler Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
12 comments:
I hear you... guess that's why I enjoy the peace and quiet of rural Missouri and could never live in a city.. just too much hustle and bustle.. lol
So great to hear from ya. Yes, been taking a long enjoyable blog break which has extended beyond my original intention! :-) I'll probably get back to it soon....but I keep having this gut feeling that something else is gonna transpire first. So I'm procrastinating!
Yes...I'm on FB. Here's my info:
www.facebook.com/kuan.yin
Happy to hear that your peace extended to your boardroom. May you continue to feel this way for many more months!
How lovely. Now that I've been back from vacation a week, I'm missing those sorts of moments. I just wrapped up an "extra" job today, so maybe I can squeeze some of those interludes in. This was a good reminder.
So there you are in the conference room , deep in corporate land-- Maui! Ms Maui-- what do you think about this concept.....
Maui shakes head..... Um... Scarlet Tanager Sir!
Peace... or just wishing you were still on the deck instead of immersed in conference room babble???
I've reached a point where I sign up for conference room babble just to escape the regular grind.
Peace! Ah, it's a great feeling!
A couple of summers ago, before going back to work in late August (I'm a teacher) I went on a campout with some friends in one of our favorite places by a river.
The river is full of rounded, smoothed rocks or many sizes and colors. Many are white granite with black specks, while others are reddish sandstone and others are black basalt.
I collected a number of rocks from about the size of a dime to the size of a golf ball, and put them in an old cigar box.
I work at several schools (I do speech therapy with kids) and there is one school where I don't really like it, where the staff is cranky and the pace is brutal.
I keep my "special place" box at that school. When things get bad, I lift the lid of the box and simply look at the rocks. It isn't even necessary to touch them or handle them, but sometimes I do that too!
I agree with you, going to a special place can be one of the most relaxing things a person can do!
I love me some Yeats. And definitely stay away from plastic world. You'll be much happier!
Your home in the Adirondacks will give you inner peace now.
Whether at work; at the dentist or, in traffic. Just let your mind wander back to the peace and the beauty of your country abode.
That's beautiful! Nothing like the healing power of nature. Wish we could have it every day of our lives.
I need a cabin in the woods...need it badly, (chuckle).
Good for you! But, it might be more of where we are in our head than where our body is/was.
Wonderful poem, too.
I hold on as long as possible to the "peaceful" moments, from when I get a chance to get away. Enjoy and languish in that.
My husband and I are heading to Lake Placid in September and I can't wait it's about a five hour drive and it's peaceful for us before we even get to the wonderful area.
I feel the serenity already and find myself dreaming of the wonderful days we'll share during that week. The words were great made me even more anxious and excited about going away.
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
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