Go With The Flow 003

Finding The Still Point

In his book ‘Divine Beauty’, John O’Donohue writes:

Stillness is the canvas against which movement can become beautiful. We can only appreciate movement against the background of stillness. Were everything kinetic, we could not know what movement is. As sound is sistered to silence, movement is sistered to stillness.

After an intense month full of movement and change, somewhere deep in me I knew I needed stillness and silence, to let everything settle within me, to give me time to digest and process all that I had just lived. I knew I wouldn’t be able to find clarity and inspiration moving forwards if I didn’t allow myself time to stop. So I booked myself in for three days in a monastery and entered noble silence.

My experience of retreat is always an adventure!

As I walked down the long path through ancient trees towards the monastery, I sensed the unknown awaiting me. I began to feel excitement and fear in equal measure. What would the silence hold for me this time? Bliss or terror? Joy or sadness? Inspiration or boredom? Ecstatic light or a dark night of the soul? Or more likely, some complex mix of all of the above?