Consistency or Discipline? - Let's sit

 "Small discipline repeated with consistency every day leads to great achievements gained slowly over time."  John Maxwell 

This morning I planted myself on the cold slate rock in the infancy of my flower garden.  The early morning had drawn me, as it often does, into many unfocused places. Getting past the headspace that is saying this deserves your attention to its big picture or small details, I move with discipline to my consistent practice or I bring consistency to the discipline of honing my attention. As I sat there, I was witness to the sound of the garbage truck braking in front of my house, the waste removal person lifting and dumping garbage, the arrival of the hired mower, driving his ride-on mower off the back of his truck, and on to my neighbor's lawn and the cacophony of sounds and songs of the birds around in my yard.  As I drew my attention closer to the sounds of both familiar and unfamiliar harmonies of each bird,  I could move further away from the other noises around while still bearing witness. Along with my thoughts, feelings, and the physical sensations of sitting on something hard, the breeze touching my skin in one moment and the sun warming my back in the next.  Contemplations for writing, plans for the day, anticipated future disturbances,  past excitement, and anxiety trade places in my heart and mind space like the sands in an hourglass. Becoming also the one watching and witnessing my physical self as I notice all that is around me and in me at this particular moment. Taking a breath creates a little room and when the attention drifts again, as it always does,  I begin to witness the symphony of the bird sounds once again.   This is a typical meditation for me. Witnessing, drifting, bringing attention back, then wanting to check out, to unfeel the feeling, and then observing the thoughts that are leading me away and trying to find the touchstone of the experience to come back to. For today it is the songs.  

Meditation has always been something that is difficult to describe as it takes so many forms for the individual and depends on a person's cultural experience. It is defined as the action or practice of using a technique of focusing the mind on an object, thought, or activity as a way to train attention and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm, stable state.  Others have referred to it as the yoga of the mind.  The consistent discipline of silencing thinking to get to the source of thought.  What resonates with me has always been a mental check-in with myself while witnessing all the places my attention flows and it can allow me to be with the source of myself and the universe.   Now it is also evolving into a written expression of my contemplation or thought process that allows me to remain the witness of the moment. 

 For today, I come back to the birds and then my mind begins to wonder if they too are witnessing me, witnessing them.  They seem unphased but not oblivious to my presence and stay consistent in their song. Is it self-discipline, in the sense that we experience it, that keeps them present to their song and undeterred by my being in their space or the other sounds around that continue to drown them out at times? 

Birds use their songs and sounds for a multitude of reasons, to attract a mate, as indicators of safety, to impress, and defend.   They can often be heard singing in the early morning when there is less observable wind and noise pollution.  Songbirds make up half of the world's ten thousand bird species. No one really knows all of the reasons for the singing and sounds of birds. Maybe it is also their meditation practice to come back to their joyful song, just as singing for us, helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which promotes health and emotional release, maybe this is also part of why they continue to sing. Maybe they are singing for the joy in it.  This consistent practice may be how they stand to bear witness to all that is happening in the world around them. Perhaps they too know the importance of continuing to witness as this is where the next right move can come from. This may keep them alert to predators or dangers in their changing environment.  

Meditation is not just for the monk on the mountain, tucked away from both the atrocities and beauties of connecting and witnessing in the physical world,  as one of my beloved mentors was always pointing out.  But it allows us to stay right here, to witness, experience, and act.

It is alright if at this moment, we have no advice, wise words of comfort, or inspirational thoughts to offer. The non-sensical patterns of behavior and circumstance, that seem to be on repeat and draw our attention back and away in a pendulum swing, are not leaving any time soon.  We can be assured that our ability to build the capacity to sit on the hard cold rock, to filter the noise, to hear the song and the messages we find in this place is the consistency of discipline we need when we can see no end in sight.   It is the fuel of this right here that allows us space to discern, to not turn away, or at least not for too long, Like the wisdom of those who plant the tree and know they may never pick its' fruit or sit in its shade, we are also able to understand that our witnessing and space for consistent discipline and action may be what the birds already know. 

We may be here to continue to make our beautiful melody in amongst the distractions, the unknown, the unfamiliar, and the heartbreak. We are here to be a part of the choir for change, to not look away, to witness and allow our voice to be consistent, and disciplined so our joyful singing can be heard amongst the noise.