“What is this life, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.”
- Henry Davies
I am used to silence on the farm. However, after a week or two in Pretoria and having had quite a number of friends and family visiting, I realized just how demanding modern life is. Not only do we frantically scurry around from point A-Z, but also we are flooded with images, smells, tastes, and noise, noise, noise… Then there are our scampering minds, dashing and darting around like a horrified hare being chased by a frenzied fox. No wonder we no longer know who we are.
When I think of the beginning of time it becomes clear that man was created to move at a walking, or at the very worst, a running pace. Time was nothing more than an awareness of morning, noon and night. Man was to live in nature and enjoy the good and healthy fruits of the earth. But gradually that changed and now we must make deliberate choices to ensure physical and emotional health. The crucial question is: How can we reclaim the forgotten art of the good life? How do we put the madness aside and enter into a space of serenity and inner stillness?
Perhaps the answer lies in the recognition of what life really is and who we really are. And, if we do not know, we can at least walk slower… talk slower… eat slower… We can watch the sunset… smell a rose… listen to a bird… We can stroll… or sit… or lie down…
After all, what is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…
(310 Words)
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