STANDING STILL

I should be standing still more often these days. I should stop doing things now and then and simply stay where I am in absolute stillness, like a tree that just stands where it is, or like birds that seemingly stay silently on wires and tree limbs for hours. Very few times in my life have I stood still just for the sake of the peace and serenity of it – just stopped doing things and simply looked and listened because it’s good to look and listen. Perhaps, in future days, I could occasionally stand in our backyard, silent and still for a few minutes, making myself truly see and hear what’s around me. Perhaps I could be like a statue in the sunshine, so hushed and stock-still the birds might bring themselves to rest in my shadow. I could be an old guy gone silent and stationary for once in his life, just breathing and looking and listening.