Turning off the noise.
Before I become deaf to myself.
It’s that time of year when the long, languid days, the still point of summer, invite some reflection and rest.
I know enough about Hindu philosophy to know that I shouldn’t be writing about Hindu philosophy. But I came across this idea many, many years ago and jotted it down in a notebook. (This is an argument for the advantages of keeping notebooks and journals.)
🕉️ Sannyasa. 🪷
This is the fourth and final stage of life.
A definition:
At this time of life the only duty is to gather together one’s mind and place it upon the [Eternal]. … to move towards an existence which involves more solitude, to begin in earnest the path of self-discovery. Your worldly relationships and connections are now coming to an end.
Let me remove the ominousness from that last sentence. I am in good health.
I’m not sure if this is temporary or permanent. I do know that it will be at least a few months.
Because …
Over the last ten days, I’ve been unsubscribing like a crazy (I am VERY close to Inbox Zero), started reading literature instead of opinion, stayed off social media. And it felt WONDERFUL.
Also, this will give me a chance to work on the corrupting need to be “relevant” which—for me, anyway—makes me as twitchy as a detoxing squirrel.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for reading.
And, appropriately enough there’s this. I suppose it should have a question mark at the end, like I’ll Be Back?
Listen here:
This resonated a lot with me. I'm a couple of decades younger but still, the struggle is real. There is way too much noise out there, coming from all angles, and it's becoming trickier to find inner peace. To be frank, it's never been easy for me to find my inner peace anyway, but it's becoming harder now. Having said that, turning off the noise is such a great place to start. It's the direction of travel they say, so onwards and upwards we go.
I hear you, John. I go through my subscriptions once a week, quietly weeding. If something doesn’t help me stay steady or adds to the noise, I let it go. You're one of a select few that I always scroll-on past — no way I'm letting go of this conversation.
I'm about to take a longer break too, as a deeper clearing. I hope, then, to find a way to use Notes without adding to the noise myself. Not quite sure how that might work, but I need to make space to try. Wish me luck!