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The Silent & Still Worker

by Rick Baker
On Jul 21, 2016

There's value in silence and stillness. I suppose I never really grasped that until I read the words of North American Indians, gained an understanding of what they learned early in life and gained some understanding of how they governed themselves [pre-19th Century]. I suppose I am naturally un-silent and un-still...I suppose, my behaviour is in the zone of ADHD...[if categorizing people that way contains any value]. And, as a final point of introduction, I know the meditative arts bank heavily on silence and stillness. For me, it would take extreme effort to progress up the hierarchical steps of meditation [for example, as presented by Alan Wallace in his classic 'The Attention Revolution', (2006)]. 

My nature is not one of stillness and silence.

Regardless, I force myself from time to time to practice these two behaviours because I believe they bring value. I am fascinated by Eckhart Tolle and his work around 'The Power of Now': his work is laced with calmness, silence, stillness, peace of mind...and a wonderful, relaxed sense of humour.

As an 'observer of others'...

I see people working in silence and stillness. I don't see this very often: overall, it is rather rare. It is common for most people to work in silence and stillness for short periods, from time to time. As examples - most people hunker down when an important deadline is looming or when a particularly sticky problem needs to be solved quickly. On the other hand, few people spend the majority of their workday in silence and stillness, exerting highly-focused/concentrated thought and effort. Few people approach their work the silent-and-still way they would behave during a series of school exams. 

We should think about this...probably best to set aside some silent-and-still time to think about the value of silence and stillness...perhaps, we should perform this in a light stage of meditation.

We - I mean, each of us - should aim to figure out his/her personal balance between silent-and-still work and work that is not silent or still. [I mean both thought-work and action-work.]

We should talk about silent-and-still work. Well, yes - we won't be able to do that silently. But we can do it calmly and quietly...or can we?

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