Leisure

I came across this today, in the latest issue of Yoga Monthly:

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.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
Not time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich the smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

"Leisure" by William Henry Davies

This captures, beautifully I think, one of the three pillars on which I'm building this healthier lifestyle. Exercise is one. Eating well is another. And calming the mind, taking time to notice the beauty of nature and life around me, learning to step outside the stress of the moment, to get beyond the panicked and heated response to a place where I can manage my mind's reactions, is the third.

I've always craved silence. I've always felt most alive in nature, where the world around me demands my attention and draws me away from the cares and concerns of the day. Since I was a child, certainly, but probably always.

I'm learning, slowly, to do that on purpose. To attend more closely to the pleasures of the moment, and to put anxiety in perspective by doing so.