There is always more to be done, so there is always a way to keep from staring into the still pool where life is beyond the chatter of the small affairs of the mind. If we are not careful, we begin to mistake this activity for meaning. – Kent Nerburn
I’m getting better at noticing the “chatter of the small affairs of the mind” and how it’s not enough to just go for a walk by myself. That chatter doesn’t stop easily. I have to work at noticing my surroundings. I have to work at alerting myself to the chatter and saying to myself, “Ah, there goes the damn chatter again. Back to the main feature. This prairie. This woods. That sky.” If the chatter produces an idea or a to-do that seems worth remembering, I make a note of it in my Pilot and then move on. The better I get at this, the more the walks seem to benefit me.