Stillness & The Urban Intervention

I had originally planned a post based on the POWER of URBAN INTERVENTIONS that would take a different form.
But Urban Interventions are about more than words - they are about bringing AWARENESS.
Am I seeing what's right in front of my eyes?
Can I see beyond my first impression?
Can I see beyond long held 'muscle memory'?
(aka Beyond what I believe I'm seeing because I stopped really looking along time ago)
I stopped to look at the Australian Hotel on Broadway.

Something about this sight as I walked home from Glebe last week caused my to pause.

The overgrowth at the side.

The brick work slowly falling apart.

And what's growing between the cracks.

Within the walls of what is now only a building are the memories of emotions scaling the spectrum of life.

I want to go beyond the surface.

I not only want to see what is, but what was and what could be.

The answers and explanations may not always be forthcoming. However in taking the time to look, and be still, let the awareness of now come upon me I've found a new appreciation all about me.

Today I Put My Thoughts Into A Bubble And I'm Holding Onto Them For Awhile

Background Music While You Think It Through

Stillness & Architecture

If you consider architecture the creation of structure, would then stillness not be the process of building?

The architect reviews, considers, and then envisions.

The architect creates the framework from which something can come into this world blending functionality and aesthetics.

The physical exertion to bring into this world a material manifestation of this design is then the building and labour required for the realisation of the vision.

In human existence, the time when we plan, research, experiment and question with regards to the flow and direction of our life, is this not architecture?

Life, however, remains fluid and constant without the clearly defined lines of design / plan / prepare / build.

Narratives overlap. Ideas are born on top of other plans, converge and then diverge at different times and at different stages of their maturity.

How we adapt to these changes is created in the space set aside for absorption.

Or put more simply, change is absorbed in our moments of stillness.

In this time the building blocks are cemented into place giving us the strength and stability to move to the next level of our growth with steady feet and a sure mind.

Stillness allows the function and aesthetic to meld and become entwined in our inner fabric.

Even at our quietest, we may be making the biggest changes because we are allowing change to happen to us.

When Things Become Possible Again

And all of a sudden something seems possible.

A fog has cleared. The road block a speck in the rear view mirror.

And I'm feeling much lighter, much happier, much more myself.

A certain wholeness.

It's never one thing, though.
That would be like basing this gradually building confidence on balancing a plate on a single supporting rod.

It takes many layers of support, on top of a foundation that was laid sometime ago.

Activity begets activity. Something begets something. And off we go...

Though is this the time for stillness and contemplation?

Should this now be the time for energy, action, drive?

Change is happening rapidly. The thin and weak trickling stream that starts from a small place eventually flows into the rapid torrents of the river that flows into the ocean.

We don't always see the change coming. We aren't always aware of those actions of ours that are ushering in that change.

When it comes and I see the newness and a future of possibility and opportunity, stillness will always give me the time to absorb that change, ingrain it within me.

Allow the change to run deep, become habit, not just momentary.

Stillness feeds a soul's hunger for replenishment and nourishment.

Today's stillness is some good music, a cup of tea, sitting back really listening. That's how I'm going to recharge in the time and space that has presented itself.

My Personal Standard (aka A Poem For Ken)

If I think I should
I should

I used to have that poem written on a notice board in work - visible as I walked in.

A reminder for me to act.

Your gut instinct. That instantaneous decision. The unconscious thought that's born to life before you knew why you needed to think it.
Where does it come from?

Too often I would delay, hesitate, procrastinate. Sometimes not acting. Sometimes acting in a manner contrary to my initial gut feel for the situation.

If I think I should
I should

That's my personal standard - a conscious challenge to myself each time I think I might take a short cut.

I'm not going to sell myself short.

The results of my actions should match the initial positive intent.

By consciously challenging myself I push through the tough times when I think it's too hard, the wall is too high, the current too strong.

My personal standard, as I discussed in a previous post is all about me having confidence and belief in...myself.

I envisage the right things.

I put these positive thoughts into action.

I catch my thinking when I feel weakness.

I stand strong and follow through.

I trust my gut feeling - I back that instinct.

I move on with greater respect for myself knowing I did not cut corners, I did not sell myself, my idea, my actions, or those around me short.

That's my personal standard.

Stillness = Savasana: in the reasons for it, not the act itself

Stillness is not as the word implies, being motionless.

To believe there is a state of no movement is a little foolhardy or naive
We are always in motion, always engaged in some form of activity, be it mental or physical.

Stillness for me is how I absorb what's around me and make sense of those experiences.

It's a very active, engaging stillness.

Much like the Savasana at the end of a yoga practice.

It's about allowing your body to adjust and soak up the changes it has just undergone.

My notion of stillness may be physically unassuming as it is all about how I continue to adapt to my surroundings.

Taking the time to look at the details about me and bring meaning and understanding to what's occurring.

And in doing so gaining a greater appreciation of both the experience and how I can use that to positively benefit future experiences.