Stillness

Aidan Childs reflects on stillness

by Aidan Childs 17th February 2012

In a world that is always rushing, it is hard to be still. I find it hard to pause on a woodland path just to look at the patterns in the leaves, or to be calm and focus my mind on a piece of paper to create a poem, a story or an essay. I find it even harder to let the aggression I sometimes feel at life sink away. There are things about which it is right to be angry, but often my thoughts seem to be a swirl of unfair little grudges. These tensions do nothing to make my life, or anyone else’s life, any better: when I manage to let them go and be peaceful, even for a few moments, I know that what is left in my mind is what needs attention.