when stillness finds you.

quiet.
silence.
stillness.
space.

how do you meet it?
do you tolerate it?
embrace it?
purposefully avoid it?

is it easy to come by in this season of life,
or harder to find?

do you treat it like an enemy,
or a friend?
perhaps it depends
on what you are chasing,
or running away from.

what does turning toward the silence,
however brief,
reveal?

a single pause.
a brief opening.
what does it unearth?

for so many,
this small but mighty act
reveals the shoulds and shouldn'ts
that rule our days,
and all the other restless antics
of the mind.

a tide of reasons,
of self-assessments,
that bind us to endless striving.
an unseen grip,
claiming its own dominion over us,
whether we notice or not.

haunted by the echoes
of weighty judgements and doubt:
if i stop, who am i?
what will happen?
can i handle what comes with slowing down?

ego insists.
it says: do do do.
go go go.
more more more.

it bargains for love.
it demands proof of worth.
it sells the subtle lie
that simply being is not enough.
that value must be produced,
earned,
proved beyond this moment.

what if we relaxed into the space instead?
into the silence.
what if we stayed,
instead of fleeing?
just for a moment.
lingered a bit.

immeasurable growth waits in the expanse,
uncovered when we choose to stay.

let space be the teacher.
let space be the healer.
let it lay bare what binds us.
let it expand around whatever constricts,
opening wide enough to cradle
everything that makes us tight inside.

the next time stillness finds you,
how will you meet it?