Runboard.com
Слава Україні!
The Pagan Porch - a forum for Pagan Homesteaders and their friends

This board is now closed and read only. No new membership can be gained. Thank you for your interest.

runboard.com       Sign up (learn about it) | Sign in (lost password?)

Page:  1  2 

 
TexasMadness Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Administrator

Registered: 03-2007
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 3972
Reply | Quote
Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


Frequently, we forget what it really means to be silent. We are constantly surrounded with stimuli and we are constantly responding to it. In our modern lives, we rarely have a chance to truly sit still and listen to the world around us. This will increase our awareness of our surroundings as well as ourselves. Sometimes it is easy to be on “autopilot” and to forget to take note of what we are actually doing and feeling.

Find a spot in nature that you can sit undisturbed for an hour. If you can’t sit for that long, do it for 30 minutes, or even 15. Your spot can be in your backyard, in a park or even on a 10th story balcony. Just be where you can be alone and be still for the time you feel comfortable with. You can however, journal during your silence if you tend to have fleeting thoughts that are hard to hold on to for the entire hour. Or you can wait until the very end. Write about what you hear, what you are thinking and how you feel. Draw the images that pop into your mind.

Report your experiences!

Last edited by TexasMadness, 9/24/2008, 7:04 pm
9/24/2008, 7:03 pm Link to this post Send Email to TexasMadness   Send PM to TexasMadness
 
Firlefanz Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Administrator

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 5712
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


I like that assignment. Might actually manage to do it on the weekend, depending on the weather. That's no fun in rain!

  emoticon

---
- Firlefanz


9/24/2008, 8:43 pm Link to this post Send Email to Firlefanz   Send PM to Firlefanz Blog
 
TexasMadness Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Administrator

Registered: 03-2007
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 3972
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


Well, maybe if it were just a light shower. emoticon

I got through about 45 minutes today before being terminally interrupted. I knew it was a distinct possibility since I choose my backyard!

For the first 15 minutes, I couldn't get my mind to settle. In Starhawk's book The Earth Path she talks about how we are not always present in nature - sometimes we just wlak through the park not really noticing anything, or other times we have a running story in our heads, "oh, what a good pagan I am, out in the woods walking around. Oh, a cardinal! That will be nice to include in my journal." Well, I certainly fell into the "story" category. I finally got myself relaxed enough and really became aware of subtle things. I get very right-brained when I go into that mode so I find it hard to put into words what it felt like. And shortly after that I fell asleep! emoticon

So it was a very relaxing experience for me. Not necessarily enlightening though. I spend hours outside everyday and while I'm not always making a conscious effort to be acutely aware of my surroundings, I have increased my awareness significantly in the past few months. So this assignment was more of a relaxation for me! By the way, I found something similar as part of an awareness workshop so that's where the idea came from.

I think I will try again this weekend. If nothing else, it provides a while to meditate outside (I'm almost always inside) and to relax...something that has been lacking in my life lately!
9/24/2008, 9:51 pm Link to this post Send Email to TexasMadness   Send PM to TexasMadness
 
Saijen SilverWolf Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 10-2004
Location: Upper North East Tennessee
Posts: 3871
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


Very good assignment, and one I'll definitely make an attempt to do. It won't be long it will be too cold to sit outside here, but I'll do this for as long as I'm able, weather wise.

DH and I do this kind of thing, but not alone. We'll sit on our porch swing and listen. We've noticed we're not hearing our whipporwill anymore, but, we've had a screetch own visit us a few times. And, then there is the big ole hoot owl that comes now and then. Not to mention the coyotes, when they begin their night songs...THAT I simply adore, cause they get my wolf going, and that sound just wraps itself around me like a big blanket.
Sometimes, even though I am sitting at my desk, I'll sit here and watch the cattle grazing just outside my window. I love watching the calves playing ...romping and kicking up their heels. Too cute!.
I'm missing the sounds of the tree frogs and bull frogs now...getting too cool for them to be around much, but I love hearing the katydids and other night critters. In case you can't really tell, night time is my time. I much prefer it to mornings.
I have a rope hammock swing hanging from my big maple tree, and sometimes I'll go sit in it, about dusk, and just listen....hear cattle lowing, dogs barking, kids laughing...birds singing here and there, all mannor of buzzy things going buzz. that chair is so comf tho that sometimes I fall asleep...lol.

So...a board 'journal' of our experiences as we work toward a stronger awareness! emoticon

---
Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
9/24/2008, 10:17 pm Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
TexasMadness Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Administrator

Registered: 03-2007
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 3972
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


I think homesteaders and pagans might find this assignment a bit "ordinary"! I didn't really realize that at first. We already spend so much time outside. This weekend though, I plan to go to the park. While I'm familiar with the area, it will be out of my comfort zone, so I think my subconscious might take it a bit more seriously!
9/24/2008, 10:31 pm Link to this post Send Email to TexasMadness   Send PM to TexasMadness
 
Firlefanz Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Administrator

Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 5712
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


Well, I certainly don't spend a lot of time outside, so this is the perfect assignment for me. *laughs*

You are right, homesteaders spend a lot of time outside, but they are usually doing things. So even for those of us, who work outside, being quiet for an hour and really listen with all senses might be a change of pace.

  emoticon

---
- Firlefanz


9/25/2008, 6:33 am Link to this post Send Email to Firlefanz   Send PM to Firlefanz Blog
 
Saijen SilverWolf Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 10-2004
Location: Upper North East Tennessee
Posts: 3871
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


Firle, I agree. Just because a person is outside a great deal, doesn't necessarily mean they are really paying much attention to what's around then, sight, smell or sound wise. Taking that time to hone the senses is something people should do anyway, regardless of their religious preferences. For one thing, it has a health factor attached to it. Slowing down, even if for just an hour a day, and focusing your attentions can lead to a healthier heart and mind. My time today has been rather broken up since DH didn't have to leave for work until 4 this evening. I'd grab my time where I could, while he was off doing other things. I sat on the back porch in the sunshine this morning, while he was doing something else, just sat there...eyes closed, soaking up a bit of sun and listening...mostly to the crows that are always in abundance around here.
I may take some time later on, and do a bit more solid time frame. See what things I can hear, smell, etc.

---
Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
9/25/2008, 9:30 pm Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 
TexasMadness Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Administrator

Registered: 03-2007
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 3972
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


For the first year of homesteading, everything was sooo much work - I couldn't concentrate on anything but what I was actually doing. This year though, I've gotten more used to the chores and have been able to daydream. I would NEVER have thought about doing that while running the tiller last year! And in the past few months, I've been making an attempt to not daydream, but actually be aware of everything. It's hard but I'm getting better at it.

Oh, and I do badly want to do this exercise at the new farm. I don't think I'll have the opportunity when we go out this weekend. But it seems like a really nice way to really get to know the place. I can't wait!
9/25/2008, 10:08 pm Link to this post Send Email to TexasMadness   Send PM to TexasMadness
 
de Corbin Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 09-2008
Posts: 580
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


I really love this idea.

Our back acerage is heavily treed. There's two-track road leading through it that is almost easy to follow at night, if the moon is out.

I like to follow the road out to a little clearing where I've sunk the bowl from an old webber grill into the ground to use as a firepit. I'll light up a fire, and sit there alone in the dark for a couple of hours.

Once you get used to the creepy feeling of being out alone in the woods in the dark, it's a very calming experience.

The best time to do it is in the winter after a good snowstorm (I have snowshoes emoticon ). A moonlit night in the woods after a good snow is one of the truely sublime experiences that everybody should try.

---

9/27/2008, 1:46 am Link to this post Send Email to de Corbin   Send PM to de Corbin
 
Saijen SilverWolf Profile
Live feed
Blog
Friends
Miscellaneous info

Registered user

Registered: 10-2004
Location: Upper North East Tennessee
Posts: 3871
Reply | Quote
Re: Assignment: Spend a silent hour in nature


de Corbin, I can only imagine the exquisite 'hush' of things after a good snow storm. Snow tends to quieten thing down anyway. I wish we got enough snow here to do something like that. We're lucky if we keep any snowfall that we do get for more than a few hours anymore emoticon

You sound like us, with the webber grill bowl as a fire pit! LOL...we did that with an old charcoal grill we had that was up on legs. cut the legs way down, and we used to use it for fires in the evening. Now we have the chimenea, so the grill went the way of the dump.

---
Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~

~~*~~ .~~*~~
9/30/2008, 7:15 pm Link to this post Send Email to Saijen SilverWolf   Send PM to Saijen SilverWolf Yahoo
 


Add a reply

Page:  1  2 





You are not logged in (login)