Be Still my Heart

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. —Ferris Bueller

My view from here. Stillness and quiet.

I was in high school when Ferris Bueller came out. I probably paid attention to all the wrong things at the time. You know, the dumb jokes, teen angst, and Sloan! My love for Sloan was real, not just a teen crush like everybody else.

Anyway, those John Hughs movies—I’ve noticed that he always put some nugget of truth and wisdom in there. Maybe because he knew young people would be watching? In the case of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, slowing down and paying attention to every moment is the message.

Lately I’ve been spending a few minutes a day sitting still and being quiet. Usually, I’m outside. I’m not closing my eyes and chanting or anything like that. I’m just sitting on the Earth and listening to the sounds of wind in the trees, dogs, roosters, hawks, and crows.

As I write this, I’ve just returned from some time on the road. Every day, a different town and every evening, a different venue and group of wonderful people. Hotels, gasoline, podcasts, and cops. Wake up, check out, load up, gas, coffee, drive, find healthy food, drive, navigate arrival, load in, park, sound check, find healthy food, gig, load out, load up, drive, load in, and check into hotel, and, finally, sleep. Rinse and repeat for several days, months, years.

Every one of those steps is a joy to me! I was built for it, but I tend to just push and charge and never stop.

The best thing I’ve been able to do for myself over the past few years is to allow myself time to just listen to the symphony and orchestration of the sounds around me. A bird chirps off to the left and a lizard curries across the pavement down to the right, a horse whinnies in the distance, and then a rooster crows across the canyon. It’s like musicians reading music or improvising a polyrhythmic extravaganza! Not one element of nature steps on the other one’s lines. They’re all listening and responding to each other in a beautiful harmony. These moments allow me to reacclimate to “regular life.”

It’s always been difficult for me to return from a road trip. It takes a while to re-enter life’s atmosphere. There’s a constant feeling that you should be getting up and going. It slowly eases and goes away as one acclimates back into one’s life at home.

My problem is that in the past, I would just go from one extreme to the next without any kind of cool off period. Literally straight from the road back into the studio until my next road trip. That’s not good for you. There’s no balance there. I say that knowing full well that I haven’t come close to achieving balance in my life in these ways. But the only way I know how to start is to sit still and listen to the sounds around me—to consciously slow down and make my body still. I try and slow everything down so that my heart is as still as can be without any kind of impulse to jump up and go somewhere or do something.

This is nearly impossible for me. I fail most of the time. At least I have the intention now. I believe that intention will grow into ability.

There’s a great Don Henley song called “Learn to Be Still.” My native ancestors knew and practiced this daily. So, I’m adding this to my daily routine and hoping it will bring more focus, peace, and power to everything that I’m spending so much energy to do.

As I learn to focus on what’s happening in those moments of peace with the wind and trees and birds, I can also learn to enjoy every other moment of busy-ness. They pass by so quickly. Maybe I can learn better to absorb every bit of beauty… in every moment. Not just that couple of minutes per day.