Doing it with the lights on

Image from
www.newparadigmdigest.com

Yesterday I woke up in that mood. You know that mood. The one with the insatiable need to create. I woke up later than I wanted to and everyone was already awake. The house was alive with conversation, music and activity. The neighbors were boisterous and the two streets that meet our house were busier than usual. There was no silence–none. There was no free space for me to go to. So I sat down on the floor and closed my eyes. Sometimes we just have to create in chaos. The need to create will not wait for silence, for the right moment, for everything to settle down.

I sat for fifteen minutes or so with my eyes closed focusing on my breath and nothing else. Life was all around me. The kids, the cars passing by, the list of things to do, the urge to write. I sat there…breathing and still in the midsts of it all.

After my impromptu meditation, I wrote in the bosom of the activity around me. My meditation practice has allowed me to create in chaos. I prefer a more structured, quiet and peaceful environment, but I don't always get it. Yet stopping in the middle of life's commotion to be still and quiet helps me to find peace. Meditating in chaos helps me settle it, or at least not be bothered by it. Creating in chaos is the same. It allows me to reach a state of tranquility and equanimity. It helps me quiet and still everything around me.

Just when you think you are going to lose your peace of mind, stop and be still and quiet for a few moments. If you have to create and are waiting for the right moment, don't. Today is a good day to do it with the lights on. Create, breathe, be still, find peace.