A Noisy Mind



Noisy sky is a term in landscape photography. It makes a landscape more interesting. And is especially helpful in black and white depictions. A clear or quiet sky is often minimized in a landscape. Obviously 2/3rds of the photo in just an awesome turquoise is not optimal and so framing of the image should include less of the quiet sky. Though there are exceptions to all rules.

 But I digress. The subject of this Dark Times Journal edition is a noisy mind. Not a noisy sky. This is about stress and not the perfect landscape.

 And how to achieve a quiet mind. Photography or painting used to achieve that for me. But I seem to have problems of focusing on either because of the noise and the stress. I can blame the noise on the situation Trump has created, the necessity I feel to resist his goals, a busy summer schedule, my addiction to multi-tasking, etc. Or simply that I have forgotten how to clear my mind and breathe.

Friends have advised to watch less news, but that is not a viable alternative for me. My noisy mind seems to obsess about what might be going on I am unaware of like New Mexico leaving the union or the Handmaid's Tale becoming a non-fiction book. And that adds to stress. And stress makes my post closed brain trauma mind forget things. The more I forget the more stress. Vicious circle.

Be Here Now by Ram Das was one of the bibles of my youth. As well as Chop Wood and Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf. Somewhere in my recovery and learning to be competent and achieve things I forgot to practice mindfulness and focus on my present task. So time to seek to quiet my mind again for at least some segment of each day.

 Mother would have called this my bouncing off the walls mode. I prefer runs with scissors. That was what they put on report cards before HAADD was invented and medicated. Nobody will benefit if I totally lose my mind.

 Been colliding with a lot of signals and messages leading me back to my Zen practice days. Time to be here now and listen.

Comments

  1. shadows of nightfallJuly 8, 2018 at 12:13 PM

    The fact that Trump got into office shows how much our country is in discord. You may never find the quiet mind again. I doubt I will either. Putting on the headphones with some of my favorite tunes gets me halfway there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JBinford-BellJuly 8, 2018 at 12:23 PM

      The opening chapters of a book on meditation I have begun to read divides mindful seekers between those who remain above the fray as it were and those who seek the quiet to gather strength to confront the evils in our societies. Thus it would seem they believe Trump types are defeatable.

      Delete

Post a Comment

I write for me but I care what my readers think. Please be polite and no scamming.

Popular posts from this blog

Swimming

Image
For much of my college career my fitness workout was swimming on the B squad of the swim team. I remember it as the days before heated pools and women coaches. I also remember being so exhausted and cold I could only lean against the shower wall and throw up. Not exactly warm fuzzy images but I was in awesome shape. Needless to say it did not leave me with a overpowering desire to swim laps. Point of fact for years my swimming became really informal: Swimming to shore after the canoe tipped over, challenging my sister once a summer to across the lake and back, seeing how long I could back float without moving a muscle, and a scuba course. I also played around with other ways of staying fit: aerobics, bicycling, jogging, skiing and dance classes. All of which seem to be bad for the knees, back or feet. After my ski accident my physical therapist steered me back to the pool. Damn if I was going to swim laps! However, aqua fit was just getting rather seriously taken so I took it. It r
Read more

The Pruning the Crown of Thorns

Image
Crown of Thorns Before I am a lover of Euphorbias . They are from the deserts of Southern Africa and Madagascar. They have evolved physical characteristics and forms similar to cacti of North and South America and are often incorrectly referred to as cacti. My big Crown of Thorns was one of my first of a growing collection of these succulents from the spurge family of Euphorbiaceae. I picked it up as a 6 inch plant in a New Iberia nursery when my sister and I were touring the northern gulf coast. I believe that was 15 years ago. I made an attempt at limiting its height a few years back to allow it to devote more energy to the new branches and make it a denser plant. That failed. And the height of the plant continued to challenge the window space and soon the long branches were leaning over and leaning against the window. I googled and found the proper way to prune this treasured plant. Still it was very difficult to cut off the four longer branches. Even with a plan. The f
Read more

Eagle Nest Dam

Image
Tour of Eagle Nest Dam Eagle Nest Dam is the largest privately built dam in the United States. It was begun by the Springer family in 1917 and completed in 1920. It and the reservoir beyond it one was privately owned by the CS Ranch which recently sold it to the state of New Mexico. Eagle Nest Lake is now a state park, but the dam and the waters in the lake are another matter all together. Water is well regulated in New Mexico especially during a drought. The lake is now at 25% of its normal capacity, and the water in the lake are water right lease holds of Raton, Cimarron, and historic ranches in the area like the UU Bar and the CS Ranch. Game and Fish department also get involved because the Cimarron River is an active fishery of the state. Our guide was a state engineer and the Gateway Museum secured permission of the land owners below the dam for us to gain access to the area. Some 100 locals and tourists attended this rare event. I have lived here almost twenty years and th
Read more