Be Still...

Hello Friends,

I hope you are well, wherever you are.

This week, I’m thinking about stillness, meditation, beauty, and our hearts. It’s been a hard few years for our hearts, hasn’t it? This past year especially. And for too much of the world, the battering of hearts continues.

Others of us are trying to ease our way into healing.

Being conscious of breath—flowing in and out—helps. Slowing down inside helps. Recognizing what I’m thankful for helps. And as always for me, noticing the small things helps.

This morning, I went to post a close up of the lovely spotted pattern inside the bells of digitalis flowers. They were another nice surprise on one of my walks. When I went to post, I thought of the phrase, “Be still my heart.” Yes, I know that given foxglove’s affect on the heart, it’s a bit of a pun, but it is also a response to the beauty offered.

But I was curious about the phrase, wondering where it came from. Here is what I found:

“Ha! Hold My Brain; Be Still My Beating Heart.”

It is from the play Zelmane, written by William Mountfort in 1705. It brought me back to that sense of slowing down. Of stillness. Of meditation, or centering, or prayer. To allow beauty to still my heart, I must slow down enough to be present. This does not mean I cannot be in motion. I’ve felt this sense of beauty on crowded dance floors as well as the meditation cushion. These are the times when I stop overthinking, and have a moment of just being with.

Wishing you some of those moments this week.

blessings - Thorn

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ps: in honor of Pride month, here’s a marvelous window into a slice of history when Gay Liberation and Black Power intersected.