Stopping the Noise

autumn leaves and a watering canStop for a minute and look around you.

Let your eyes fall on something you would normally ignore.

Focus on the negative space that surrounds a Starbucks go cup.  Notice the way the arm of a chair curves to meet the seat.  Appreciate the pressed corners of the collar on a charcoal grey wool coat.

See the color of the cement when it’s wet.  Try to think of the name of the color of a curled leaf.  Is it amber?  Is it burnt umber?

 

Slowly write the letters of the alphabet in cursive.  Write them again with curlicues.  Write them again in block with a drop-shadow.  Draw the numbers from 1 to 10 without lifting your pen from the paper.

 

Think about your favorite food.  Now think about what it was when you were a kid.  Think about why you don’t like peanut butter and jelly anymore and vow to make yourself one when you get home.

 

If you could be anywhere else right at this moment, where would you be?  Write down the name of the place.  Write down why you’d want to be there – the colors you’d see, the smells you’d inhale, the temperature of the air, the music that characterizes the place, the food you’d dive into.  Fold the note and tuck it in your wallet.

 

Ignore the Noise For a Minute

Forget about the 17 political flyers that will be clogging your mail box when you get home.

Forget about having to remind your kids to brush their teeth extra long tonight because of all the Halloween treats they’ve been sneaking all day.

Forget about what you forgot to take out of the freezer for dinner.

Forget about wishing it was Friday and that the work week was finally coming to an end.

Forget about getting ahead.

Forget about keeping up.

Forget the noise.

Catch your breath.

 

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