The Art of Stillness

Karen's roses surround the vegetable garden and are at the heart of the peacefulness at her ranch.

​I hit the computer about half an hour ago without a clue of what to write about for Sunday Morning Reflections. Part of my routine is to scroll through my home page on Facebook and catch up on what's been shared over the last day or two. In the process, I ran across a short video from Karen Kuehn of her ranch, and the peacefulness of the video hit me along with her comment, "Blessed I love my life."

As one of the industry's most outstanding artists, Karen came into my life in the late '80s when one of her images was featured in a Hasselblad campaign. We only met for a minute back then, but we caught up to each other two years ago, and here we are today as good friends.  

Karen's office and studio - surrounded by "stillness."

​Last month in New Mexico, we finally caught up to Karen and spent part of an afternoon on her ranch, and it couldn't have been more peaceful. Surrounded by giant willows, she planted over twenty years ago; it's a haven for creativity and stillness.

I still wasn't sure what to write about, so I grabbed one of Melody Beattie's books and for today read:

"Stillness is different from solitude, different from aloneness, different from turning off the stereo or speaking softly. Stillness is a place. You can find it in the desert or in the mountains. You can find it when you're alone or when you're in the midst of people. You can find stillness wherever you are, whatever you're going through. Stillness is a place within you. Slow down. Breathe deeply. Get quiet. Become familiar with stillness. Take time to learn its power."

And there it was - the perfect topic for today and why I enjoy writing Reflections - it's about the stillness of a Sunday morning. It's about the peacefulness as the sun's coming up. Those first morning rays bring a deep appreciation for my life, Sheila, family, great friends like Karen, and so many memories. It's stillness that allows me to savor so many moments that through the noise and craziness of any typical business day I'd miss.

Finding stillness is an art form. It takes practice to shut off the noise, block the stress and have complete control over wherever you'd like your head and heart to wander. At that moment there's no particular purpose other than to savor time. 

I have yet to find a consistent recipe for stillness, but the basic ingredients are always the same, and it starts with learning to cherish what's really important...love. I know it sounds sappy, but I'm not just talking about love for those people most special in your life, but a love for yourself, and the passions that have you getting out of bed each morning with a smile on your face. It's about the love for your life, even if it's not quite where you want it yet. 

As always, I wish everyone an incredible day ahead, and time to enjoy the stillness. Nothing beats one of those eleven-second therapeutic hugs while surrounded by the peace of stillness. And to our friend Karen, who started this thing today...thanks, buddy! Sure do love ya and glad to see the second round of knee surgery has you on the mend.

Happy Sunday!

PS The images I grabbed for today's post were all taken at Karen's, where the beauty of stillness abounds. She's got this funky little garden surrounded by roses and at either end are two chopped up old cars. It makes absolutely no sense, but at the same time, it's brilliant. I was traveling with a LUMIX G9, and Karen grabbed a shot of us in the garden.

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