Inner180

Among the many lessons in the African bush, the lesson of stillness unfolded again and again. Many times during our game drives, we were invited to get still and notice what was happening around us.  Putting down our cameras and stopping our social chitchat, we sat still and simply did nothing.

I’d never been in a place where there was stillness in every direction, where the sights and sounds of human activity were completely absent, where not even the hum of a distant highway or an occasional overhead airplane broke the silence.  Only the subtle presence of nature surrounded us.

Before long, our Shangaan tracker would quietly gesture to something which we hadn’t immediately comprehended.

Like the beautiful blue heron sitting beside this lake,

impala grazing across the field,

zebras hiding in the grasses,

hippos disguised as boulders,

and elephants emerging from the forest.

The more still we get, the more we see and hear and learn, and the more we connect with the beauty and wonder always around us.  This is the place we can access the wisest parts within us, where we can become the detached, curious observers of ourselves, and where we can always know peace.

Lao Tzu teaches, “Empty your mind of all thoughts, let your heart be at peace  . . . you can deal with whatever life brings you.”

Africa was a powerful reminder.