Stillness.
There is an unmistakable and undefined emotion tied to that word.
Teenagers are largely a frenetic bunch (look it up if you don't know what it means--there is a dictionary site right on this blog to help you!) and are constantly in motion. I assume that is why they require so much sleep and frequently miss
1st period!
But, true appreciation is born in stillness.
You must be still to watch a movie, read a book, have a meaningful conversation. If you aren't, you might miss something vital. Do you agree?
Yet, so many people fear stillness. They occupy themselves with, at times, meaningless nonsense to keep their minds from being still.
Why do you think that is? Do you do it? How do you feel about silence? Does it make you uncomfortable to sit in a room, in a car or where ever with someone and be silent? Why?
Before you answer these questions, while you are sitting there at the computer, stop for a moment, close your eyes and try to be still. Utterly and completely still. Let your mind go blank and try to focus on only your breathing and the beating of your own heart.
Could you do it? If not, why? What got in your way? If you could, how did it feel?
(400 words/50pts)
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42 comments:
In life stillness is a key point that many of us tend to miss, and this is part of the reason in which we make mistakes. If your talking in class your going to miss what your teacher is trying to instruct you with, or if your driving and talking on the phone or talking to a friend you might miss a certain exit, when your reading a book if you are not focused and your mind is wondering elsewhere you could miss the conflict, or while we converse with one another if we are not focused or paying attention we really could miss a vital statement that could interfere with our lives later on.
I for one hate silence, except of course when I try to fall asleep, but I do not stand alone with hating silence. It might not so much be hatred towards silence it might be fear in certain situations. For example if you are home alone and your house SILENT and dark most people would tend to be frightened. Also if you were walking home in the dark, which I do sometimes from work, you tend to be paranoid and check behind you if someone is behind you. Silence is just an uncomfortable feeling that can tend to make you paranoid. In movies what happens when silence happens all a sudden it gets dark and scary then BAM a killer jumps out with startling music. Silence is not so much something we dislike but also more or less frightening to humans. When you are doing homework, writing a paper, or testing silence is extremely vital. But are we all in complete silence? I for one know my head is never completely at rest, because there are thoughts constantly bobbling around in my head. Teenagers are very frantic, but adults’ lives are not any easier. When you’re younger you’re more frantic over having fun, or dressing well, but as you grow older you become frantic over bills, work, and maybe your children. It is very little that we are to here silence. What would it be like in school while walking to class to hear silence? It would never happen. Most people have negative feelings towards silence so why would they like to posses being quiet. Even at school assemblies it takes some time for everyone to settle in and be quiet for a whole five minutes until someone simply yells “09!”
While driving in a car I hate silence, I always will say something maybe that doesn’t make since just to break the silence. Silence is not just scary but also extremely awkward, and when there is silence that’s when we tend to have our mind boggled with endless thoughts. I never just sit around in my room silent; I put music on unless I am doing homework. Humans love to keep there minds occupied whether it is with reading, music, or conversation.
While sitting with my eyes closed focusing on my breathing and heart beat I could not just simply do just that. Behind me I hear my dog scratching the TV. upstairs, and my parents voice lingering from the kitchen. Even when I am completely silent my mind is overwhelmed with a million different thoughts that seem to multiply everyday. I am afraid of silence because it is awkward making me extremely uncomfortable. Even though my mind is filled with thought I need something to stimulate my brain like music, TV. or conversation. Silence is very vital to achieve certain things, but also at the same time it is hard to posses’ silence. Who wants to be uncomfortable and quiet when they can talk or stimulate there brain with something to make their selves comfortable?
As a teenager, it’s hard to understand the true meaning of stillness. It’s to my belief that it’s the silence that lingers about, waiting for a movement. With that statement, I can honestly tell you that I am only still when it is necessary. I love being active. I feel uncomfortable when silent is brought about because it is something I am not used to. I feel as if silence is the action of uncertainty, or even fear. It’s silent when you are unsure of what to say, or when you are afraid of saying something foolish. What many people have trouble understanding is that statements and questions aren’t based upon what you know, but what you either want to know, or want others to know also. For example, if a teacher put me on the spot and asked me a simple question like “what is the capital of new jersey?” I would probably fall silent. Even though the answer is something I was taught in the third grade and it probably would be impossible to forget, I would fall still in fear. This fear wouldn’t be the fear you get when you’re about to go on a rollercoaster, it would be more of embarrassment. There fore, in that case, I would acknowledge stillness as my answer, hoping it would pass quickly.
I do not have ADHD, or even ADD when it comes to sitting still. It’s not that I can’t do it, but that I would rather not. Everything around me is at a constant motion; whether it is other conversations, or even the birds chirping. I guess you could say I have a good ear because, for some reason, it always seems that there’s noise.
Sitting in silence does indeed make me uncomfortable. Like said, it’s just something I’m not used to. What I can’t get over is that I don’t think I have ever felt utter stillness. Is it even possible? Could one person really block out all sound? Unfortunately, I believe that this could only be possible if you were deaf. As I sit here at my computer, I close my eyes, and still…no stillness. If I wanted to witness stillness, I wouldn’t focus on my heart beat, for a beat is a motion, a movement in which can never be still, unless dead. All around me there are people talking and televisions on different channels interrupting one another and it seems impossible to have a blank mind. If even having a blank mind were possible. I cannot be still. Even when my body isn’t moving, my ears are, as sounds all around me clash together. Even when my body isn’t moving on the outside, I can feel my saliva forming, as it does constantly but usual unnoticed. Although I have no outside movement, I can feel my heart beat, as it too, waits for the stillness.
I believe that stillness is impossible to capture and it’s just a word we use to describe the “close to”.
hahaha... "teenagers are largely a frenetic bunch." that sounds like something my mother would say. and i would always reply back in viet, "excuses for the teenager to become reckless with the things they do, really.." these are the years where most of us teenagers do focus on doing nothing but moving around (i.e- partying, shopping, sports, etc.) and we wake up in the morning still tired from 0-10 hours of sleep... i have a feeling i'm not the only one who has slept in first period, not the best of things to do but it does happen unfortunately because of how much movement we do in a single day or night. but true appreciation isn't based on whether there is motion itself but also the basis of understanding the subject to really comprehend the feeling of true appreciation. that's what really gets someone to be in motion or not. if someone does not get the concept of a movie or a book, their attention span wears off and that's where movement starts coming along... they know they might miss something vital but do you really think they care? especially being at that age where being grateful merely exists unless the teenager has some major epiphany to believe in cherishing every moment they have living? ...yeah, no. although, i do agree with people occupying themselves with at times, meaningless nonsense to keep their minds from being still... usually to escape the reality for whatever reason, whether they think they are living thinking they have it worse than most as of the moment, or maybe because like i said before, they aren't appreciating the moment they are living... but no matter what the reason, people still do it regardless, even if there is no reason. i know i myself do it frequently. i hate silence. it's too awkward for me. i am not a loud person in my opinion, but i do consider myself basically a city-person... i love a place that never sleeps because i never can, insomnia... i can never choose when i want to sleep or what time. when it happens, it happens. although the reasons for others disliking silence may be different from mine, they might not like sitting in a car or a room with someone where it's quiet... it's not a usual habit really unless you yourself are naturally quiet. my mind can never draw a blank; that's nearly impossible to ask from me so my apologies... there's always too much going on in my mind... someone or something in my mind for me to worry about. i don't know whether to call that a hereditary trait or just me being me, but sometimes i wish i can appreciate silence more instead of always having a song or a picture or a statement(s) replaying in my head. i guess i am a loud person then. irony much, maybe?
Ah so many questions Ms Bunje! Where do I even starttttt!
Stillness can take two different forms depending on the situation, whether its peaceful or awkward. I believe it is true that teenagers often keep themselves occupied in order to stay away from stillness and silence. When they no longer can find some last resort to keep stillness from occurring, they turn their ipod on and throw on their headphones; the complete opposite of silence. I think people, teenagers especially, occupy themselves with whatever they can think of because they fear their own thoughts; I know I do. I tend to over think everything that could possibly cross my mind, from the color of my hair, to my boyfriend, to tomorrows test I forgot to study for. Music, drawing, reading, and being with my boyfriend are my ways to just get away from my own head. Id rather just go with the flow, especially with my artwork. Personally, I like silence most of the time though, but I suppose it really all comes down to what Im doing. Reading and drawing are definitely the main things where silence is needed for me. The only time I feel comfortable being around someone in silence is when Im with my boyfriend. Its those times where we just lay in bed together, close our eyes, and just enjoy the essence of each other. Those times are the most heart filled moments that you just dont forget. They are not the least bit awkward, instead they are passionate.
I fortunately am able to sit in complete silence and just be one with myself. My ex-boyfriend used to meditate a lot and always talk to me about how soothing and relaxing it is for the body and mind. I started attempting to accomplish those feelings two years ago and have finally started to master it. Also being away at a center helped. There we would concentrate on our breathing patterns and clearing our minds from all of the madness that we have created inside ourselves and learning to deal with them at another time when we were ready. It definitely has helped me learn how to clear my thoughts and feel grounded.
Stillness; essentially, it is like a short freeze in time. The world takes a pause; this allows time for meditation and deep thought. It is an important factor in many of our objectives and can be a vital key to survival in life. Knowing all this, we must ask ourselves; how do we obtain this? It’s not as simple as just turning off the T.V and silently staring at a wall. This is a type of stillness, but it is not the point of really stopping. That thought provoking silence is what makes the very idea of stillness golden. At times, the key to understanding and relaxation lies in the ability to just stop for a moment and take in a nice crisp breath of air.
However, why does this comforting feeling actually come off as awkward to us. It is so rare that we attain a chance to just sit silently; why do we avoid it? I believe that our minds are corrupted by the hustle and bustle of daily living. We let the stress and pressure carry through our days and we feel that we must always be on the go. Picture a free period in a class room; what do you see? I doubt anyone imagines a calm setting in which each teen is merely relaxing and watching the clouds stroll by from outside the window. No, you probably imagine a huge gathering of loud and annoying brats yelling and complaining about this and that.
The essence of stillness has been abandoned due to our own needs, our craving to keep moving in order to avoid the act of actually thinking. It is almost a form of procrastination. It is in stillness that the deepest thoughts raise. Questions like “Am I happy?” or “What do I do now?” pop up and to those thoughts, we must only see the truth. We fear these moments of perplexing, we avoid them at all costs. Perceiving the world, ourselves, and our future in a true scenario encourages fear. Why would we wish to do such a thing when we could merely turn on the T.V or fill ours ears will the sweet bliss of music?
As I sit here at the school library, I question if I can just take a moment to breath. After so much experience with actually creating useless activities to fill the mind; is it possible to just sit in silence for a moment without any sort of distracting thought barring the way? Can I even take a breath without drifting to the many troubles we step into afterward it is done? Trying to do so, I realize it is much harder than it looks. Shielding my eyes, I find myself actually blabbing in my own mind, wondering if this is how it is suppose to feel like. Obviously there is no inner peace in a wandering brain. I sigh; opening my eyes once more and try again. Hopeless as the case seems, I do see progress in the end. As the mindless pitter-patter begins to cease, I feel a sort of calmness. The world pauses; the various voices around me dull down and eventually mute. I question nothing; there is no doubt in my mind. This feeling of peace, just for a moment the world felt right. Opening my eyes feels great; I begin to reply to the blog.
This feeling of calmness and understanding, it only comes with stillness. I believe we all need to slow down a bit as is, some need to stop completely for a bit. If others knew how it felt, maybe it would be easier. For now, I am slightly inspired. A few minutes a day, I want this to be a ritual. Finding peace in the world; how happy I would be just to feel it for a second.
stillness is a virtual to people because you deserve it in certain situations just in like in the blog question. if you were in a conversation silence os stillness is acquired because if your were all jumpy and moving in fast movements, the person sitting there would feel not appreciated ans unconfortable. i believe that stillness is important because you need it to have a reasonable day exspecially at school. i can be one of those people that can occupy themselves but at moments i do require stillness exspecially when i get my migranes.
stillness can come with silence and silence can be a creepy or loved moments. to me thats how i feel because at moments there are situations that you don't want silence. Just like in nicole's blog i agree that walking home at night in the dark after work is scary. Exspecially when i had to walk in atlantic city to catch the train or bus alway made me feel real nerve racking, exspecially when you can hear the crickets cheerping and then you believe that you can hear footsteps but nobody is there. on the other hand there are moments that i do like silence when nicole said she doesn't like silence on a test , i am completely opposite i prefer to have silence because if not i wouldn't be able to complete the test. also everyone should agree that when you feel like crap and you have a fever, all congested up it makes you want to have silence since you don't even feel like you have the strength to hear any thing. Their can be moments in a room that i don't like to have silence it could bother me.
i can just stop doing everythying and close my eyes and just starting breathing and not caring makes me happy so i did succeed on blocking everything out and just sit there and create my own silence. i felt great and re energized after that which led to answering this last questin for you. i quess it only depends on the moment and scenery i am in at that time to tell you how i truely feel but i just told you some feeling i felt already in my life.
Why is stillness feared so much by people? Are they blinded by the true beauty that lies behind the fear? when stillness and silence consumes you, you're rewarded with such a gift at the moment you don't even realize it. What gift is that may be what you're wondering? The gift my friends is all the true beauty that surrounds you.
You ever take notice when you're still you observe everyting around you, to the smallest detail. You probably never realize it because you're hypnotized by such a wonder in the world. For example, whenever you're alone, at the park for instance, do you ever just stare at nature around you and wonder why it works the way it does? If you weren't still for that very moment you would've missed every possible answer you could come up with.
Also,being still and observing what's around you works for people as well. You can find out someone's deepest, darkest secrets by just watching how they react with different situations thrown at them. In the stillness of eveyone's commotion you watch the people around you and you learn just a little bit about them that no one would know if you were just to start talk to them.
People who fear stillness and silence lack the gift of having the joys that surround them. They always want to be caught up in the moment and not take notice to anything but the craziness and noise around them.
Silence and stillness is a rare moment given to you to have a chance to let you grow and learn about something that doesn't happen everyday.When that moment comes you should never let it pass you by because it'll be a while before another moment of stillness comes to you again.
Many may also fear stillness because they feel as if they're missing out on somehting if they're not the canter of attention or don't know about the next big thing. How ever, they don't realize they're missing ut on the biggest thing of all and it's the TRUE beauty surrounding them.
Stillness is something that can be a key thing in your life. It can be a very helpful tool with anything that you do. When you are listening to someone talk or watching something that is going to teach you things you don’t want to be talking to the person next to you or just doing your own thing. You want to be sitting there paying attention. Also when you are trying to learn something new you don’t want to all over the place with different topics. You want to concentrate. BMX is an example where stillness could be good in the learning of a new trick. You’re not going to watch someone show you how to do it while texting someone or talking to the kid on a bike next to you. You’re going to sit there with stillness and study the movements of the trick. Stillness is a great way to make sure you get the full concept of what you are hearing or doing. It also is something that many people seem to fear in a way. If you looked around a classroom being taught a lesson you are not going to see everyone in complete stillness. There are going to be people on cell phones, drawing or a desk or paper, and some probably talking to the person closest to them. This is because people cannot sit still without getting bored. I think that some people are afraid of being bored. I know that I do most of those things I listed. Sometimes what you are listening to is not to interesting at the moment even though it is important. And my mind is always has so much on it. Things like what I will be doing when I get home or that weekend. I am always getting ahead of myself. And I think that is the same for most teenagers. Silence is something that can be a little intimidating at times but also good. It all depends on where you are, what the situation is, and who is around you while in silence. Silence can cause me to feel a little uncomfortable at times. But that is only when it is the awkward silences. In cars silence can be good. Cause you can just sit back and relax and look at everything that surrounds you. It can be refreshing and gives you a time where you can think about things going on without interruptions. I couldn’t really just sit there and clear my mind. I had little sisters in the background and a TV going. I tried shutting the TV off and blocking my sisters out but there was still too much going on in my mind.
I do agree that true appreciation is born in stillness. You do have to be still to read a book, watch a movie, or have a meaningful conversation. If you truly want to understand what you are doing you have to be still. If you are trying to read a book, you won't fully understand it if you’re having side conversations, or listening to music. When I am reading a book I need to be completely concentrated on the book, or I'll end up forgetting the last 5 minutes of what I just read. If I am not fully concentrated on a movie I will end up lost in the whole story. I need to be completely still to fully understand.
I think teenagers cannot keep still because we all have a small dose ADD and a short attention span. We cannot always keep our mind concentrated on what we are doing. It's like there are a bunch of ideas in our minds just waiting to be expressed. As teenagers we just want to express these ideas to almost everyone ASAP. Or we just can't stop thinking about a bunch of nothing in our heads. We will just be concentrated, and then your mind fades off into somewhere else.
I do it a lot. Sometimes it just takes me a couple of minutes to start an assignment because my mind fades off somewhere else. It also takes a longer time to finish what I am doing. I start singing music in my head, or start messing with my head. I would have to tell myself in my mind to stop and concentrate on what I'm doing.
When my surrounding suddenly gets silent I am confused thinking, "What just happened?" It is not common when a room full of teenagers gets quiet. When I am alone and it is quiet, I am waiting for something to dramatically break the silence. It's is like "the calm before the storm" kind of thing. I feel cautious, because to me something has to break this silence. So in a way I am uncomfortable.
I tried to stay quiet, and it partially worked. I could stop what I was doing and pay attention to my breathing and my heart beat. The only thing I couldn't do was clear my mind. When I tried to clear my mind thoughts, ideas, and music (Trey Songz) was floating through my head.
I agree that you must be still to appreciate things. Especially with movies and books. I know that when i am reading a book i have to be in complete silence with no distractions around me. Otherwise, I wont be paying attention to what im reading and my mind will wander off into whatever is going on around me. With movies, you definitely need to be still and concentrating or else you will miss key parts and not fully understand what you are watching. You cant just have a conversation and be wandering around or else watching the movie be almost pointless.
Also...Yes, many people do fear stillness. I might as well be a victim of it myself. If i am still its most likely because i have to be. For example, if i am just in my room, still, i will probaly turn on the tv, computer or music or something.but there are times where i have just layed there and thought about things. But that doesnt last too long. When I am in a car, room or where ever in silence i dont find it awkward unless there are people with me. I think it's awkward when i am with someone and its just silent. That's where music comes in or i will try to start a conversation.
When i sat quiet, closed my eyes and concentrated on my heart beat and breathing it only lasted for a few seconds until i started thinking about things. I just couldnt clear my mind.
I never really thought about the word stillness. After reading the blog, I completely agree that in order to take something in or appreciate something we have to be still. Its like when your watching tv you try not to move because you don’t want to miss anything if you move and turn your head the other way for a second. Even though I agree I have to say that stillness and silence creeps me out. When I’m home and no one else is there I have to either put the tv on or turn on some music. The emptiness of the room and silence sends chills up my spine. I think that we occupy ourselves and stay as far away from stillness as possible because its like the fear of the unknown. I know that when something is on my mind I paint, go outside and do something active because I’m afraid of actually sitting still and thinking. It’s not that we want to run away from our thoughts or feelings, its more like the fear of thinking of feeling something that your not used to. I know that all of us are used to leading busy lives, constantly doing something and when we hear silence it freaks us out since we are not used to it. Sitting still in complete silence when you don’t need to is hard, you get easily distracted or you just don’t want to for the same reason that your not used to it. I feel that when we do stand still to watch a movie or read a book or whatever it doesn’t bother us because we don’t even realize that we are doing it. But when your sitting in your room, car, in silence you know your in silence and that’s when the fear kicks in that people have.
I tried to close my eyes and clear my mind of everything but I couldn’t. My mom was in the kitchen cooking, the tv was blasted, my dog was barking, there was just too much chaos to relax and enjoy the moment. That why when our days fall still and silent its out of our daily norm of the fasted paced lives many of us lead. I do find a moment in my day where I am in silence and I’m appreciating it; when I do my pilates. I relax my mind and body but I am still moving even though the room is silent. I can’t help but move and create a distraction even during the most relaxing situations.
Stopping and just listening to my breathing and my heart beat actually relaxed me. Unlike a lot of people I know, I am able to actually sit still and focus on one thing. When I sat here with my eyes closed, I had my music going, dog barking, TV in the background, and a text message all coming in at the same time but I am able to block that out and focus on one thing; I love the silence. You may think that this is weird to you but I am not the only one, for example; did you know that EVERY NIGHT Alli M. will lay in her bed in the darkness and think. Sometimes she will have her I pod on or sometimes she won’t. Now when it comes to me sleeping at night, I need the TV on but I will put my head under the pillow and just listen to what the show is saying. It’s not that I fear silence or stillness at all; it’s just a mental thing that I have come to cope with and am very used to. People annoy me very easily, whether it is what they say, how they act, or just the way that they are, and silence, SOMETIMES, is the best thing for me. I think that a lot of people fear stillness because they are scared to be alone, I don’t fear it because even if I am alone, that is alright; there is something or someone out there thinking about me at some point which is enough for me, besides if I don’t have anyone, I have me. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable at all to sit in a room or my car alone and not talk or sing or just do anything I kind of like it. It does make me uncomfortable though when I’m in the car or in a room with a friend just the two of us and there is silence; what are they thinking? It’s just weird to me. For example, today I was walking down the hallway with a friend who isn’t close nor distant, and it was completely silent for a minute or two. I didn’t know what to say or think, I just wanted to know what was going through her mind. I didn’t say anything thought because it didn’t bother me enough in which I felt uncomfortable.
Stillness; at times it is awkward and boring, but stillness can be quite relaxing from a busy day. You can just slip off to a better place and leave all the hectic work behind you. People who are afraid of stillness are probably uncomfortable with not being in the group or just bored with doing nothing. That’s why they talk so much or they start messing around with stuff. For instance my sister talks and fidgets constantly and reminds me of one of those robot toy animals that they have in front of the KB toy store. To me stillness is very relaxing; I don’t mind the awkward silence you have in a car or the stillness of being alone. I guess I’m like that because of how I grew up. For instance, when I was in elementary school and the teachers frowned on students who called out, or because I’m use to my mom and dad not talking that much and that’s why I’m use to the stillness. Don’t get me wrong I do like to talk; it’s just sometimes I’d rather think about something or just clear my mind. Sometimes I even play songs in my head like a built-in IPod. The moment that I took in the beginning of the blog to see if I could be still was very easy. I had no problems or distractions; I felt at peace with my surroundings and a little tired.
Stillness is something that I never thought about until I read this blog and I think that a lot of people lack stillness. Sometimes you are in class and your teacher will be talking and you just have to tell your friends about your weekend and you may not notice that your teacher may have given you important instructions. Or sometimes you might be driving and you may be talking on the phone with your friend and you might accidentally run a stop sign. My personality is that I’m always laughing, smiling, or talking., and if I’m not doing anything like that one day, then you’ll know that something is bothering me. I know that I hate being in silence expect on some circumstances, but I really hate being in silence. I don’t know exactly why I have being in silence, I just feel so weird. I really don’t know how to explain why I don’t like the silence, it may be because I don’t like to be put in awkward positions, and if and when I’m put into one I really don’t know how to react. For example, if I’m home alone with my sister I get SO paranoid. My sister and I will be downstairs and I would start hearing stuff coming from upstairs, and would ask my sister if she just heard what I heard and she will look at me like I’m a crazy person. And like five minutes ago I had to go to go to Nicole’s to give her a paper and it was a short walk there, but the whole time I kept looking back whenever I heard something and I saw a car and I just ran faster. Sometimes when I’m going to sleep, I’d be so tired and just want to go to sleep. But sometimes I’ll be too busy thinking about other stuff in my mind. And I get so mad because all I want to do is go to sleep but my mind is too busy thinking about other stuff. When I closed my eyes and listened focused on my breathing and heart beating, I had my TV going and I honestly could not concentrate on my breathing or my heart beating, and I tried it a couple of time but I just couldn’t do it. When I’m sleeping I know that my mind and myself is relaxing and I think that’s one of the times that I can be in complete silence.
Stillness, actually stopping everything and having to confront your thoughts and feelings. Why would anyone want to do that? I know from experience I keep my mind on school and all my activities so that I don’t have to deal with the reality of being unhappy. The reality of not being perfect or anywhere near it. The reality that I’m scared and don’t want to face decisions. And yes I am guilty for participating in meaningless nonsense just to keep from thinking. So being still isn’t an option.
We busy ourselves to hide from our fears, concerns, even regrets. I hate lying in bed in silence and stillness that’s when everything just hits me and for a second I can’t breathe because the reality is sometimes unbearable, for some worse than others. Also when I am still I normally have so many thoughts jumping around at once I can’t sleep I get overwhelmed and just lack the ability to relax. It’s hard for me to jus meditate how I wish I could. Focusing on my breathing though does allow me to sort of fight my way out of my jungle of thoughts.
Yet silence isn’t bad,freighting at times yes. I appreciate so much being able to lay next to someone in silence and just relax. Think about life and appreciate the person’s presence, just live in the moment. This is a benefit of silence that most of us are afraid of. A lot of people find it weird to just sit in silence these people probably lack depth, or maybe just cannot adjust to it because it is different and unfamiliar when you live in a loud constant moving world.
Awkward silences occur all the time. We feel the need to fill every moment with words when sometimes keeping silent is better than running of at the mouth. I again speak from experience when I say its okay to keep shut. I talk way too much and say things I don’t mean sometimes without thinking. I wish I had the gift to just keep quite, for normally the quite thinkers have more depth and meaning in what they say then a person who shouts the first thing that pops into they’re head.
Stillness and silence are good things I don’t think there are any negatives to them. Yes they’re unfamiliar and not what we’re comfortable with, but sometimes a moment of silence can go along way. Whether you paying respect for a death or tragic event or just meditating, silence is worth a lot and probably contributes to a healthier mind.
i do argee that appreciation is born in stillness. you have to be still to watch a movie, having a meaningful conversation and reading a book. if your moving a round and talking to other people your not paying attention to the book your just reading it just to read it. i love being silent, thats just me but if i was in a car with my friends or family member i would not really be silent because i already know these people and i am comfortable with them, but if iam in a car with other people i dont know iam gonna be silent because i dont really like talking to people i dont know i feel weird for some reason unless they start a conversation with me and they seem cool than i talk to them. i cant sit in a room with my ipod on and than start reading a book because i wont be able to understand the book iam going to be listening to the music the whole time, u really have to be occupied while reading a book its really important. one of the things i hate people do in life is talk while iam watching a movie i hate that it gets on my nerves, i dont want to her nothing but the t.v. i think that your mind should be still somtimes not all the times. i love beeing in a quiet place but i also like hanging with my friends and being all loud thats when i hate silence, when i am conversating with my friends i hate silence. i understand that stillness is uncomfortable but when your watching a movie or focusing on somthing you wouldnt want some one to bother you and interfear with what your doing. when i let my mind go blank and started focusing it seem as if i could write for ever my fingers kept moving and they didnt want to stop i thought about alot of stuff and this is also an example of silence and stillness it shows that when u focus u can think about alot and talk about it forever
I never really thought of stillness but some of the best things in life are done by being still. learning, sleeping, cuddling, watching a movie, talking etc. Also stillness can lead to thinking about life and everything that’s wrong and how messed up the world can be, just things that people don’t want to think about. Lately I know that I have been doing meaningless nonsense so that I can constantly try to keep myself occupied because the minute im alone and not doing anything I begin to think about things going on in my life that I push away throughout the day. Being still can be very important in life because when your trying to do something every second of the day you are missing out on the little things in life. When people are trying to avoid stillness there is a reason for that. This could be a reason why people are afraid of stillness or being silent. When your mind wonders it seems to always remind you of the things your trying not to think about. Silence doesn’t bother me so much because even if its silent you can still be doing something. Silence can be awkward if you don’t know someone, or you say something and then all of a sudden its quite. I think that everyone needs to be silent once in a while and just listen to what the world has to offer, listen to what others have to say and just to listen to your thoughts. People that always have something to say often don’t think about it before they blurt it out, because they never really never had a chance to let the silence of their mind tell them the right thing to say, until after they said it.
While sitting here I tried to be completely still and clear my mind but it did not work for me. Every time my mind started to go blank with thought sounds in the background made me think. I am sure it would be really relaxing if I could clear my mind for a long period of time. That’s why I like sleeping, even though sometimes you have dreams that you remember when you wake up, most of the time for me anyway I don’t remember my dreams which I think is a good thing because when im sleeping I don’t want to have to think about anything.
yea i could do it and i felt relaxed which is rare besides when im sleeping. i think people occupy themselves with meaningless nonsense to keep their minds from being still maybe because they are afraid of boredom and they need that constant motion to keep them in comfort. And i think that everybody goes threw it at one point of time but it is the matter if they can tolerate it long enough to keep themselves still and go on till there actually something for them to do or if they just cant tolerate it and have to move. and yea i do it too but its just because of the same fact which that i dont ant to be bored i want to do something. and there is times when i can tolerate it and be bored till there is a duty for me to do. as well as the silence is something i more likely can't tolerate because i feel alone and i dont like to feel like that. but there time that i can but its when people are around for instance when im taking a test, sleeping, watching a movie, just basically stuff that involves consitration with people around but any other wise silence is a no no. also sitting in the room or anywhere silence with someone else is a no no too. for me its very awkward unless were both doing something and it involves ma consitration again. but truly ii dont know why i just feel uncomfortable. its kind of like something natural like if i was taught or maybe its just something that im not use to so it feels awkward.
It is so true that you must be still to enjoy something in its entirety. One single movement and you loose a second you can never get back that is now lost in an ever so deep abyss of missed or lost time. It is when you are still you become more receptive and are able to sometimes receive or see things for more that they usually appear to be. It is like when you loose one sense the others are heightened. So when you are still your lips are not moving you are not taking, eating, or tasting( because those things would involve moving) so your in essence just looking and listening. In a way right then your only purpose or ability can now only be absorbing in full what is around you. Seeing things in every angle soaking in more than you are able to on a regular basis. Then comes the fear of being still. I never really thought about it contemplated it, but I see it now. I see that it is so true that being still can be horrifying, I guess that is why it is used as a punishment for example like in time out, detention, solitary confinement, etc. Those who fear, become in that time a prisoner to themselves. I can admit that I am at times the one making random noises in quiet times, kicking my feet to fight the stillness that wants me to settle myself into. I do it I think sometimes out of boredom and other times because I am afraid of what I might notice then, that I did not notice when I was preoccupied. The fear of the unknown. However it depends on my surroundings because when I am at church surrounded by tons of people I can be silent but love it, feel awesome, great, meditate to myself, and focus on God, and not be a prisoner to myself but be free from myself and be one with my surroundings. I could do it just now before I wrote this sit still, be silent focus on my heart beat and my breathing hear the music that they made feel the two in such a nice almost perfect harmony, it was calming, but then reality snuck up on me, nudged me and reminded me this blog wasn't going to write itself.
Stillness is one of the great virtues a person can obtain. It’s so important to gain peace and tranquility with yourself. I disagree that you have to be still in order to really concentrate and listen to something fully in order to get it. Sometimes you can be completely still and totally be zoned out and not be paying attention. Sometimes when I read a book, I’ll be reading very still and randomly start thinking about something else that happened with a friend or something I need to do later, and then I’ll realize I’m on the next page already. On the outside, it probably looked I was really concentrated in my book and reading it, but on the inside, I was completely not focusing on the book what so ever. It happens in movies too, when I’m watching a movie and some event in the movie makes me think of something else, and I’ll still be completely still and looking at the screen, but not watching the movie. Next thing I know it, I just missed an important event of the movie, although it looked like I was really watching it by being still. However, I’m not defending every person out there that fidgets in class by saying that they really are paying attention, but I believe there are different ways to tell if someone is trying to comprehend or listen to something besides on their stillness. I believe there is no physical evidence to prove if someone is really focusing or listening to something.
The reason why some people do nonsense things to occupy their mind if because they’re minds aren’t developed enough. I think it comes with maturity and comprehension in order to be still. When a person fidgets or moves around, it’s obvious they aren’t 100% focus and in tuned to what’s being projected to them. Sometimes I do it such as I’ll reposition myself a few times in class, or I’ll play with my hair while listening to someone speak. It’s not that I’m not interested, it’s just because, subconsciously, another part of my mind isn’t focused in on the subject at hand. Therefore, I’m not 100% focusing on what’s being projected to me. I think silence is a huge part in being about to listen and focus in on things. Silence is very enjoyable at times and it helps organize your mind. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable to be in silence at most times, unless it’s like a date or something that involves communication. I enjoy silence and it allows me to think and clear my head. In the car, I’ll have the radio on and helps me plan what I’ll be doing in the near future. I appreciated silence, because it’s rarely found in our society anymore. It’s a shame really, that someone can’t be silent for one second. One of my most favorite quotes is “Silent and listen are spelled with the same letters”. I found this quote in middle school and it’s stuck in my mind ever since. I am quite a silent person, but that’s only because I’m such a good listener. Silence is important because it’s the key to be able to listen. You can’t listen to someone if your trying to speak. It’s nearly impossible. I think listening to people is one of the most important things.
When I try to sit still and close my eyes, it’s not that hard to do. Like I said before, being about to be still and just listen to the world around you takes a developed, and matured mind. The only thing that made me stop was well, I didn’t know how long I was suppose to do it for. It feels so good and relaxing to be completely still and it opens your mind to the world around you. Silence and stillness are very important to ease tension and to create peace. Without those two would be loudness and chaos and those do not go together in a world trying to become better.
I'm posting this so late..I'm so sorry if i wake you up with your text saying i posted. Phillies are up 5 1...Loving it. So about being still, i cant do it, and i think anyone that knows me will agree with that. However, if I'm really into sometihng i completely zone out and it's possible to ignore anything else that's going around me. when i listen to someone talk 9 times out of 10 i listen very intensly, even if it seems like I'm wondering off. the truth is I'm thinking pretty hard about what that person jsut said. If I'm not entirely into into sometihng it's easy for me to wonder about and leave all together, which rarely happens. The only place i can ever sit in silence and not want to say anything is in the car. This is weird because most people would believe when your alone with someone in the car you have to talk to them. The fact is i love to sit in a car and jsut look out the window or drive. I love to sit in silence in the car. Anywhere else though, it's very hard for me to be quiet, because i love giving my imput in everything i can imagine. It's not so much uncomfortable for me to sit in silence, i jsut always have something to say. I just closed my eyes for about 2 minutes, and relaxed, and i honestly couldn't think straight. For some reason i cannot find a way to settle all of my thoughts. I am much more comfortable thinking of different things and things that make me happy, then the things that make me sad. I can try to hide my thoughts, but never can i put them away all together, it's important to me to have my happy thoughts. They are what keep me so upbeat!
I completely agree that stillness is imperative in many situations, just like the ones listed. I believe that it is important to be able to sit and have your mind not wander away from what you are doing. Many people will start blurting out random things or try and make conversation perhaps because they want to prevent some kind of awkwardness or maybe just because they don’t have the attention span to stay concentrated. When things like this occur, people can miss out on information or it can just be plain rude, which is why remaining tranquil and quite at times can be so very important. I do believe that many people fear stillness why is why they try and find things to do or look at or talk about. It seems as though if someone has nothing to do or think about they feel weird and have the urge to engage in trivial things. However, I have no problem sitting in quite environment with nothing to do. I enjoy being calm and reflective in a tranquil place because it doesn’t bother me when I have nothing to do or have to sit still. Silence doesn’t bother me, since I usually try not to talk too much and barely ever speak in place like the car or during movies because I don’t fear being unvoiced. I know that my opinion varies from many because I am known to be awkward because of this trait. I’m not a small talk guy who tries to break the silence because I just don’t feel weird in that situation like most others. I didn’t find it difficult at all sit still and clear my mind, mostly because I try to stay clearheaded most of the time. I like to think that I have a calm personality most of the time and like to not get worked up or move a whole lot just because I am comfortable with a serene atmosphere. It feels good to not have a lot of things on your mind because it relieves stress, even though I don’t really know too much about stress because on a normal basis I basically avoid it all together. I don’t let things get to me or drive me crazy because I am good at blocking out pressure; I just stay cool, calm, and collective even in the most hectic times, or at least during the most hectic times I’ve actually endured.
The awkward silence is the most uncomfortable feeling in the world. Whenever I am in a car or alone with someone that I am not familiar with I feel so weird inside that I have to make a noise or start humming so that silence is not there. There are different times when everything can be quiet and comfortable. Like if I was hanging out with my girlfriend and everything is quiet it’s a nice comfortable feeling. It just has to be with people I know. It’s sort of the feeling that I am making an impression on that person and I don’t want to come out as the talkative annoying type of person. That’s why whenever I am in a car the music has to be playing unless there are conversations going on, even still there is music playing low enough to the point if there was no conversations on, the music will cover up the silence. I think people fear stillness and silence is because through out their life and what it is now there has always been noise going on around them that silence is a scary new view. Also because in scary movies bad things always happen when everything is quiet and there is not a sound coming out of anyone. To really focus on a book or movie you do have to be silent and still or you will not understand what is going on. I do think that if everything isn’t silent then people do miss out on things. If people make noise just for the fear of silence then they are missing out on something that could happen and something that might be more important. But having conversations means something more and would only happen with two people. I just tried the sitting in silence and not thinking about anything besides breathing and my heart beat. I was close to doing it but I was interrupted by the students in the library that walked in. Jordan Colbert interrupted me because he thought I was sleeping so he decided to punch me in the chest and told me to wake up. I think I would have felt it and it would have been uncomfortable but nice and give me time to relax. I think people who do not know each other feel that uncomfortable feeling when they are together in a room or a car. Just need to get to know each other more to make it less awkward.
I think that teenagers are so frenetic because they are occupied with doing homework, chillin with friends, sports, and jobs. They have no time to be still because if they try, they would always feel the need to fill that void of doing nothing. Being still equals fear. When you are still, you have to let all your ambitions go and try to relax. Most cannot do this. It requires you, in a way, to pay extremely close to things. As for me, I'm not afraid of stillness, I embrace it. It is one of the best things that you could ever do. Silence is my best friend. It gives me a chance to clearly think without any interuptions. Some of my best thinking is done at this time because nothing is interupting me. While I'm in the car, I don't really talk that much; instead I just look at the trees and think about life itself and how I can look out at the sky and just know that it is round. It's kind of weird, I know, but that's what I do. There is only one time when silence a little bit awkward. That is when you have nothing else to say or talk about and there is a pause.
I tried to sit still at the computer and try to be still; I failed miserably. This is because I am frantic to finish this because I have somewhere to be. If I didn't have to go anywhere, I believe that I would be able to do it.
I think teenagers keep their minds from being still because it is boring to them or they might be afrade if they stop and close their eyes and be still they might end up remembering something they don't want to remember like a bad childhood memory or the death of some one that was very close to them. I keep my mind from being still because I always have to be doing something or I will get bord. I don't mind silence but I can only take so much silence in one sitting. It is very akword sitting in a room and any body thats in the room as well is quiet. It makes me feel uncomfortable and eventualy I will just leave the room.
Yes, I do agree that in order to watch a movie, read a book, or have a meaningful conversation you must be still. While watching a movie, you’ll probably miss a key part to the movie if you don’t pay full attention to it. Then you’ll end up asking questions to the person besides you about what is going on and you’ll miss even more of the movie. My mom for instance, always says how she can ever watch a full movie. The only time she can is if she’s at the movie theatre, where she is forced to be quiet and still. When reading a book, if I do not gave complete silence my mind will start wandering and go completely off track. Although my mind does not completely stop wandering, it definitely does wander less then with noise. For the most part in conversation, you do have to be still. If it’s a truly meaningful conversation, your heart and mind have to be completely focused on what you’re talking about, or you’ll just get off topic and move onto something else.
I agree that people do fear stillness. Many people probably relate it to boredom, just like me. So, we occupy ourselves with anything to keep us entertained. I personally hate silence. As soon as I walk into my room, I have to put the television or music on. Whenever I’m in silence, I can not stop thinking. It’s usually think about stuff I don’t even want to think about. For instance, something bad that happened in my life, or something that might make me upset. So, I try and stay away from silence by any means necessary. I guess I relate silence to terrible thing and I’ve grown to completely hate it.
My friend’s brother totaled her car, so she got stuck with her mom’s Volvo volxwagon until he buys her a new car. It’s so old that the radio is broken, so whenever we’re in the car we try and sit in the silence but I can never do it. She can, and always asks me to be quiet because sometimes she would like to just sit in the slice. Although I try it, I seriously can’t do it and all my friends know it. Whenever I’m with my friends, it’s like a priority not have those awkward silences between us. I always find something meaningless to talk about.
I tried to let my mind go blank and just focus on my breathing and my heart, but it did not go too well. I do not like the sound of heart beats. That may sound weird, but it’s not a very soothing sound. It reminds me of panic, and I would rather focus on something else then that. And once again, I hate the silence. I don’t think I ever will like it, and it freaks me out. I would rather entertain myself with meaningless nonsense then deal with silence.
Silence can be rather awkward at times. Some people like being in silence while some people prefer not to be in silence and constantly have to have something going on around them. Personally I don’t mind moments of silence but there are many times where I hate silence. For instance during class I get distracted rather easily there for I need it to be quit to focus properly. Of course I need it to be silent to fall asleep also. But, there are moments like while I am driving that I can not stand it to be completely silent. At times it makes me feel uncomfortable or out of place if I am with a group of people and no one is talking or saying anything. It gives me the sense that I am not wanted there. I have to have music on or something I don’t have to actually be talking to someone I just need some type of noise or I get this weird feeling like I am being watched or something. Whenever I have a lot of homework to do I tend to listen to my favorite music to keep me focused on the task in front of me. If I were to have it completely silent in my room I would find something else to do or just leave my room and for get about the home work that I should be doing. If I am going through a stressful moment in life I like to just go somewhere quite so I can collect all of my thoughts and think about what is going on. If I have too many things going on around me then I tend to for get what I need to do. I wouldn’t say that I fear silence in life, there are just moments when I would prefer that there was something going on around me.
Yes, I could sit in complete silence. I often use this method of just sitting down in my room and just taking everything around me. I like to use it as a relaxation method. For example if I am stressed out about a certain situation; I will just sit down take a deep breath and just relax a collect my thoughts for a few moments. I is a very efficient method for me to calm down.
Stillness is a key factor in every person’s life, people would miss out on countless experiences that if it were not for stillness would not exist. Some of these experiences may include watching a movie, reading a book, or having meaningful conversations with other individuals. Even the ability to just sit back relax, and enjoy the world around you.
Although stillness is an important aspect of life, some people fear stillness or at least they don’t like it. The stillness that I am talking about is the oh so common awkward silence. I don’t know anybody who likes an awkward silence for if people actually welcomed an awkward silence they wouldn’t do what they can to avoid it. Even if it is not an awkward silence and you are just by yourself most people find something to do because they can’t stand just sitting there doing nothing. I think that people can’t stand stillness because they are so used to being occupied or rushing to get something done. Yet when a time comes where they don’t have anything in particular that they need to get done they can’t just sit there. I think people are afraid to sit in silence because if they did they would find themselves thinking about all of the troubles and tragedies that are occurring in their life, which for most people is something to avoid. They have to find something, no matter how useless or pointless it is, to occupy them. I on the other hand do not mind a moment of silence. On the rare occasion that I do not have to get something done I find myself laying down and just thinking about anything and everything. Even when I do have stuff I need to get done I end up letting my mind wander. In most cases I do not mind the silence in fact I welcome it. I like being able to sit in silence and just enjoy being with somebody who enjoys being with you. Of course there is the occasional awkward silence when you meet someone new that you may not know or do not feel comfortable around. But other than that silence is a virtue and something that I am grateful for.
Stillness in my life is a great thing. Whenever I get a moment of stillness I like to just sit and relax, not worry about the problems going on but just clear your mind out. Its like recharging the mind. I believe It would be uncomfortable for me to sit in a silent room by myself. I could do it and tend to do it sometimes as a moment to relax. Growing up I was the youngest child so I always had someone older bossing me around or making fun of me so I never had any silence. So now when I get the chance to have some silence I sit back and enjoy it.
I believe that stillness is a beautiful thing, its weird that with all the chaos going on in the world, it could just be silent and nothing can be heard. Silence is a time you have to yourself and a time to reflect on ourselves and just think about the positive things. I also believe that silence is like everything in the world, too much of it isn’t good. If it was silent 24/7 you would go crazy and just make noise to calm yourself. Also when your with someone else silence isn’t fun its turns into something awkward. Your just waiting for the other person to say something and they are probably thinking the same thing as you. It also matters what type of mood your in to enjoy silence. If your really happy and are just in a silent room, its not fun because you have no one to talk to or to hang with. But if you are in a normal mood or a sad mood silence is perfect because reflecting on yourself will most likely change your mood into a better one.
Many things need stillness to exist like watching a movie or ready a book. For watching a movie you need to listen to every little thing so that your are not lost and at the same time watch what’s going on. When explained it sounds like a hard thing to do but if you can be still and relax it’s a fun thing to do. Reading a book is something I myself have troubles with, I get bored to easily and just thinking of other things because that’s what silence makes me do. But when I try really hard I can be a good reader and relax. Stillness is something that doesn’t come around often so when it does you have to take advantage of the opportunity and take a time out to sit back and relax.
Stillness is a uniquely calm and emotion-free absence of motion; both physically and mentally. Even if we happen to stop all physical movement, this usually leaves us with more mental activity which technically means we aren’t being very still at all. If we manage to become completely still; to forget all of our troubles, all of our plans, and all of our wants, then we can experience a very refreshing clarity. We usually shy away from this because, while this clarity is worry-free and stress-free, it’s also free of fun and activity which we enjoy. Communication is a much needed thing which calls for the absence of stillness. If communication isn’t happening then small petty external troubles can erupt into unneeded grudges and fights. Stillness is mainly a time to clear up internal conflict that we have with ourselves. When we are acting out of line then stillness is probably the best thing so we have time to really untie the mental knot that is causing us the trouble.
I believe that people dislike stillness, and will occupy their time with meaningless activities, because we have too many opportunities for stillness which we tend to categorize under “boredom”. I know that when I have a few busy days in a row where I don’t have time to myself, then I tend to crave stillness and I believe that most of us are the same way. If you have too much of something then you tend to wish you didn’t have it anymore. So when we lack an activity to partake in then we want to find something to occupy our time with, and when we have a lot of activities to partake in then we wish that we had more time without activities. It’s hard to find a happy medium between the activeness and stillness. I personally think that silence is a good thing in some situations such as a time of great stress, so that we can concentrate on what we need to. Also in a time where there is nothing intelligent to say, then nothing should be said at all, although many of us, to avoid stillness, will say something anyway.
I managed to make myself completely still, but I didn’t find it comforting or necessary because stillness always seems so unproductive, yet sometimes productivity can’t be reached unless we use stillness to clear our clouded minds.
I just attempted to be as still as possible and let my mind go blank. It seems impossible to me because to many things entered my mind all at the same time. My mind was flooded with thoughts of how I'm going to win my chess game tomorrow and my future. So I guess that my thoughts kept me from letting my mind go blank. In most cases stillness allows you to catch all the vital points in a conversation and life. There are a few times though that I love stillness, and it's just to sit back and smell the flowers but I only have only been granted this privilege when my mind is empty of all thoughts. In the few times that this has happened I have stared for hours as the moon shined on my entire house. When this happens though I am truly still and can appreciate the little things in life. I at times fear stillness because I am afraid of what might come of it. If I don't fill my mind with things that are sometimes unimportant than I will begin to think of the more serious things in my life all at once. I know that this will cause me to become overwhelmed. So if I have too much of this stillness my mind will begin to break. I personally am not to big on silence. I don't usually talk that much but I enjoy hearing others. I don't really know anyone that really likes silence that why people are always listening to music or attempting to stir up a conversation in a quite car. As humans we enjoy to hear the opinions of others or a few jokes. I believe that too much silence and stillness will effect anyone in a negative way. If we are given too much time to just clear our minds than the things going on in our life will pass us by.I know that it makes me very uncomfortable to sit in silent places because it makes me seem as if the people don't really care enough to speak to each other, and that they are not really in tune with each other. Silence gives time for stillness which is time that I don't really want since my head is usually filled with so many thoughts. When I am ever sitting on a bus riding to a basketball game or in a room with a couple of people I have to exchange at least a few words with them.
Stillness, the lack of motion or sound, an amazing thing. I personally agree that stillness in a teenagers life, or anyones life in general is very important. Not necessarily because they might miss something or they need to pay attention to every detail in a movie, but because finding time to be at peace with yourself is important espically for those who have frantic lives. Slience, is something that is relative to who you are with. I think that if you are with someone that you dont feel completley comfortable with your mind wanders and dosent allow you to truly relax. I think that the world is full of untrust worthy people and as children we are taught to never let our guard down. Personally, I let my guard down a few times a week when I do yoga, it refreshes me and gives me a break from my everyday life.
I couldn't sit still at the computer. I couldn't even get my mind to go blank. I am to worried what goes around me to be to still for to long. I also get bored really easily. If something doesn't interest me I will daydream and ignore what I'm supposed to be doing. That sometimes gets me into trouble. Somethings you have to sit still suck as when you watch in a movie or reading a great book such as Life of Pi. You don't have to sit still when you are having a meaningful conversion. You can pay attention when you are movie or doing anything with actions. You can do multiple things at a time when you are having a conversation. It shows more respect tho if you give the person you are talking to your undivided attention. I fear stillness. I cant be in one place for to long. I have to talk. I cant sit quietly without making some type of noise. I think I am doing something wrong if the person I am with isn't talking. It makes me feel weird.I cant explain why it makes me feel that way. Just like I have to fix things that bother me. Like if u have a loose string or a booger in your nose, I will tell you because it is bothering me. Some people say that makes me mean but that makes me feel comfortable.
I did exactly what the blog said to do, stop, close my eyes, and be still. I let my mind go blank and tried to focus on my breathing and my heart beat. It was kind hard, but then I just relaxed and kept my mind and body completely still and at peace. I usually do this right before I go to sleep because if not, ill be up all night just thinking. However, I do admit it comes hard at times when I’m stressing out or have a lot of things on my mind. Well taking it back to the blog, yes I do agree we have to be still in order to watch a movie or have a conversation. That’s the only way I think I’d be able to do it, because if not I wouldn’t get anything done. I think that’s the only time when I’m at peace too, especially when I’m just sitting down watching TV or something. I think that this is the only time I’m not focused on anything except one single thing. My mind doesn’t get a chance to roam around because I’m only focused on one thing. And I really don’t know why people are afraid to be in silence. Maybe I’m different but being in silence doesn’t scare me, it just gives me a chance to think, (a lot). And trying not to contradict what I said, but that’s what that’s what scares me, when I get a chance to just think about everything and life. That’s one of the reasons I try to keep myself busy so that doesn’t happen, because then I just start to think about the world, life, and a lot of other things that I question. But I don’t think I’d be missing anything vital by keeping myself busy, I’m a teenager, an adolescent, I am supposed to be like that. However I do think there comes a time in which we do need to just sit and just be still, but not now. I did feel pretty good just to relax, because even right now I’m thinking about a million things , but when I just sat here and did the little exercise I felt a little relieved. So maybe stillness is an important thing to get more used to. Because if not, I think there could be a major breakdown. I don’t know, but that’s just my opinion.
I would like to say that I am the kind of person that appreciates stillness, but I am not. Even when I am at home with nothing to do I still do not stay still. I could be on the couch doing nothing, but I am still watching TV, listening to my ipod, and surfing the web, so I am not still. The only time that I am truly still is when I am driving in my car alone. When I am alone in the car with nothing to do, I just think about nothing and before I know it, the drive is over. I do my best thinking when I am alone in a car. I like and dislike silence depending on the situation. When I am alone with my immediate family, we go through long periods of time without talking, but that is because we know each other so well. When I am alone with other people, I hate when there is silence beause I have no idea what they are thinking about and that unnerves me a little bit. I do not think that I fear stillness, and I definitely do not fill my time with meaningless stuff. Whenever I do something there is always some kind of logic behind it. I just tried to be completely still, but I could not do it. I could not do it because my parents are sitting in the room talking and because there is a playoff baseball game on TV, so I am pretty preoccupied. I wish I could stay still more often because I think I would make better decisions in my life.
Yes I do agree that true appreciation is born in stillness. You have to be focused when trying to comprehend certain ideas. You can’t be off in space when having an in depth conversation with someone because how can you interact with that other person when you are not thinking to your full ability. It’s hard to stay focused as a teenager but it’s not impossible. I don't mind being in an area with no noise or anything active going on. I went to the park recently just to listen to the sounds. It’s amazing when you think about it because the only thing i could hear is my heart beat and the air breaking against my ears with a few bugs chirping. I don’t know why people would fear stillness or silence. In a group of people I think its different depending who you are around because every person is different. People think it’s awkward if you don’t talk when there is five people standing around, I know some friends have to be talking about something every single second and it annoys me. For me I don’t mind just sitting around and being silent or being in the car with no music on with my girl friend. I think that’s why my girlfriend Sarah and I get along so well. We can just lay down without talking and relax. There’s no pressure of trying to hold a conversation with each other because we are comfortable with that. Sometimes I think it’s nice for silence, it’s the time to clear your head of all thoughts and relax. It’s something that is hard to come by when you are a senior in high school. When I shut my eyes right now and try to clear my head I can’t. Honestly right now I can’t find any silence with my dad watching a huge soccer game we all know what the FSC channel sounds like when someone scores a goal, GOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!.
Stillness is a rare thing. With the exception of natural movement, such as your heart beating or breathing or blinking your eyelashes, stillness is something that is unusual because of the fact that motion keeps the world moving. Literally, the world is always moving. In today’s day and age, people don’t have time to just sit still and let their minds go blank. And, I personally find it hard to do it because I get distracted too easily. Sounds make me want to focus on other things and move to turn and look at what it is. Curiosity gets in the way of a lot of people’s focus. Even while watching a movie, reading a book, or having a meaningful conversation, stillness is uncommon. People do miss vital things because of distractions. This happens on a daily occurrence in class. Teenagers are a “frenetic bunch”. I didn’t know that until I read the blog because that’s a new word in my vocabulary. But teenagers are distracted and chaotic and frenzied. Therefore, teenagers are a frenetic bunch. There is always one student that is focused on something else while directions or information is being given and because that student’s attention was directed to what was being taught, they miss that information. I think it is pretty much impossible for a student to remain still and focused for an entire class period. It is human nature for your mind to drift off to something else, or cross your leg, or put your head down, or tap your fingers. When Jon gets upset, he bangs his fist on the desk. When Mike is thinking about a question, he rubs his chin. And Javahn often drums his fingers on his desk. Movement is everywhere. In class, I often find myself reading posters on the walls, doodling on my notebook or texting on my phone (not in your class, of course). People are usually occupied by things that interest them more or catch their attention to a greater extent than what is presented in front of them. Some people occupy themselves with things because silence, in most instances, is in fact uncomfortable. It usually indicates that something is wrong. Silence and stillness change the overall mood of a situation. Even though mornings are a great time to take things slow because waking up early is a terrible thing, I personally do not like stillness. Motion makes the world too much fun.
By experience, I agree that a person should be still while they take part in a conversation or reading or anything else that contains important information pertaining to something that is not meaningless to life. I was in a conversation that made the difference in first and second place and if I had been moving around and not asking for everyone to relax so I could pay attention to the comments second place would have been it. Yeah I said important to life, but that is more important to the person’s life. When a sport or academic team is a big portion of someone’s life, any conversation involving that sport team needing work would be considered important to that person’s life. I think people are afraid to be still because a person could think that if they don’t tell someone a story right then or if someone doesn’t hug someone at a certain moment that it may never happen. I know a lot of people who fear not being able to tell something or do something because the fear that an opportunity won’t come. Also I feel people won’t keep a still mind because well children are children, teenagers are growing up and beyond the worst age ever, and adults because they are always thinking things such as having to feed someone or getting to work on time so it’s throwing them off because their main priority is living not what they could see as a meaningless conversation. I feel as though most of the time I try to keep my mind open and listen to any conversation I am involved in, but when I am excited or jumpy, I can’t help but go off and not pay attention. Silence is a scary thing to me sometimes because than you never know what follows. There have been times where I have been in a car and room with one or more people in complete silence and it is very awkward. It’s not uncomfortable, but just awkward sitting somewhere in silence. Right now I can’t sit still and just be here because I have a lot in my head. I have to read stuff, projects to do, and a huge competition this weekend that means the world to me and I don’t want to lose it so it’s highly distracting me. So basically band and school got in my way of having a still mind, but anytime after band season I am usually open to anything and very still.
Ah silence such a wonderful thing if only there was just more of it in my life. In my eyes silence is the most valuable commodity there is. With so many loud things that you are able to be doing all day like watching TV or blasting music with you iPod or CD player, it’s nice to come across a nice place where it is quiet enough and doesn’t have any distractions so you can just say read a book or think about life or what you want to do when you get out of high school which for us seniors is coming up pretty soon. I never enjoy anything more than just sitting down and reading a good book but there just always seems to be something else that you could be doing that might not be necessary but maybe just a little more exiting. Another thing about trying to find a nice place where you can just think is that there always seems to be noise going on wherever I am, and it might not be from me. It could be from other people, maybe just construction going on; it could be many different things. This is though where that ability to just block everything out does come in handy. I have done it before thanks to Bunje and I just hope she knows how much it’s helped me. Not only is it good for when you need to get something done but also just as a hint towards anyone thinking of entering the service it comes very much in handy when you have people yelling in your face but that’s beside the point. Fear, well there are many different things that I fear and maybe will fear in the future but the one thing that I will never fear is silence because silence means that I can think or that I am being given the opportunity to either sleep or take a good look at my surroundings and think what it is that I want to do next. There is one silence that I do fear and that is when it’s too silent for the situation. Now I know that this might seem a little odd but when this type of situation occurs you know its happening. Say you were walking through Oakcrest after hours it’s still got some sound to the hallways. Now just consider walking through Oakcrest after hours and it’s so quiet your footsteps aren’t even able to break the silence it’s so strong. Think about it, and then come back to me with whether or not silence frightens you.
So many things in life, is caused for stillness. Such as the examples you've cited, followed by, going to church or driving to a new destination. You must be strong in the mind, to have the disepline to sit still and focus on one thing or let your mind focus on absolutley nothing. Teenagers dont appreciate the true meaning of stillness. Teenagers like to occupy themselves with nonsense to escape stillness, because of the young life that they live. There's always something going on in a teenagers life, either, parties, a pile of homework, hanging out with thier friends or alot of drama going on. Sometimes they like to let thier mind scramble, just to escape all things that trouble them or whatever. In my case I only feel comfortable around silence when it's needed. Such as being in a library or reading a book or sitting class. It could be a challenge for me to sit in a room or a car with perfect silence. I always find a way to get out of silence for some srtange reason. Whenever I get next to a silenced area, I began to listen to my i-pod or just began totalk to myself. It's unexplainable why I am the way I am. Im also the type that always want to be around noise, but the same thing goes for noies; I only want to be around noise when it's needed. Silence to me is only called for consentration. You need noise to conversate and to understand whats going on around you.
I tried sitting in front of my computer perfectly still, and it was nearly impossible. Because of me knowing that this wasnt necessary, my mind allowed everything to break my consentration. Thats exactly what I was talking about, if it's not needed or manditory my body will not allow me to be silent, be around silence or be still.
I do agree that you need to be still to do many things such as watching a movie or reading a book. If you are not still you mind focuses on what you’re doing rather than what you’re watching or reading. You may think your getting everything in but when asked a question about a vital part of the movie or book you may not recall that thing happening at all. Having a meaningful conversation while moving around is nearly impossible. Sure everything you want to say may come out right but if you’re moving around and fidgeting the person you’re talking to may focus more on your movements than your words. You can only have those conversations once and if you weren’t still then your efforts to get the point across were futile. It is very obvious with many people that they occupy their stillness with pointless actions or activities. This need for constant motion could be a variety of things. For some they may be trying to keep something bad off their mind and do their best to forget it. For others they might just think too much and overwhelm themselves with ridiculous thoughts. Although I wish I didn’t, I am very guilty of doing this. I can assure you that it is not to get something out of my head but rather to occupy my racing mind. When I am left alone my head goes in 100 different directions for no reason at all. I usually start off thinking about one thing and then something triggers my mind to go off on something else completely irrelevant to my first thoughts. I am someone who is anti silence I do not know why but I cannot take the silence. When I want peace and quiet what I really want is to just listen to music or watch TV. When I am in a room with someone and it is silent its not that I am uncomfortable but more that I get bored too easily and social interaction would definitely pass the time until I figure out something to do or until we arrived at our destination. Yeah when your in the car with someone and it is dead quiet is does become really awkward because it gives off a feeling of tension even though there may be none at all and it is just we have nothing to say or talk about. For the sitting quiet test I was not able to do it. It could be because I have a lot going on this weekend and I am more focused on that than sitting silently or just due to my inability to stand any prolonged period of silence.
Personally I do agree that true appreciation is born in stillness. You truly have to be still when your reading a book, or watching a movie, or have a meaningful conversation. In order to comprehend those certain things you really must be still and ready to listen. If you are not still and focused completely on that one thing you tend to lose track and concentration of what you were doing. You either forget that last chapter you read in the book assigned for a English homework, or you missed the funny part in the movie, or you missed a part of a brokenhearted friends conversation. If I am not completely focused I sometimes miss a lot of important things, so in my opinion I myself must be still to have a full understanding.
Although the whole theory that "teenagers are a frenetic bunch" seems like, in my opinion, just a misunderstanding between adults and teenagers. Most parents went through similar things in there high school and as a teenager, at least i know my parents did their share of partying, coming to school late, or sometimes just missing a day or two. Aside from the whole partying and always want to be moving around some teenagers work just to survive, and I personally can relate to that. I think that its a teenagers nature to be constantly moving, searching for new adventures and new ways of life. Therefore the slight ADD, like Ponce said, that some teenagers seem to have is due our short attention span. Personally I know I wonder off into my own little world at times during class and think about what will i do next, the stresses in my life, or just not thinking at all.
Stillness is and seems to be a wonderful thing although I do think I'm a little frightened of it. I hate thinking or dwelling on things at times and in order to avoid that I like to be moving around I guess constantly trying to avoid reality. Even though, after I sat and closed my eyes, cleared my mind, focused on my breathing, and was completely still i felt a sudden sense of peace flow through out my body. All my worries seemed to fade away and all i could hear was the peace-fullness of beautiful mother nature coming from outside my window. As the cold breeze blew in my face I realized a little bit that stillness isn't that scary and maybe what scares me the most is that when I'm still i might think about the past and the things that are now destroying my life now. From this blog i learned that stillness and clearing your mind soothes your heart, your worries, and your pain.
Ms. Bunje I emailed you about handing in the blog late, if you didn't get I really need to talk to you about why it was late on Monday. Love ya.
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