[refugee]

Carl Sandburg describes Abraham Lincoln's (also purportedly an INFP) early years and the secret of his strength:

"In wilderness loneliness he compassioned with trees, with the faces of open sky and weather in changing seasons, with that individual one-man instrument, the ax. Silence found him for her own. In the making of him, the element of silence was immense."

I am contemplating getting away for a while, preferably somewhere quiet so I can think/read/meditate and get stronger. Maybe I'll do some Rocky-esque weighttraining as well...

For those who are struggling emotionally, I strongly recommend getting away from the clatter and clutter that so easy envelops us. There we can learn what it means to be human, where no classroom can teach us.

 

[Raichan]

Thank you for sharing, refugee, that was beautiful.

 

[AllorNuthin]

Off topic, but Lincoln suspended habeus corpus and imprisoned political dissidents and newspaper editors. I don't have any respect for him.

But yeah, a walk in nature always lifts my spirits.

 

[gloosle]

There's nothing I love more than my trips into the backcountry - with a select few pals or by myself. something about it makes me feel so freeeee!

mountain air = heaven.

 

[Sily]

Silence... the most beautiful sound in the world. :wink:

 

[faeriegal713]

I've been desiring to find silence much of the last few weeks. To the point that I'm actually irritated with a friend who had such an opportunity and squandered it by taking two people with him on his 40 day hike of doom. (He claims it's a spiritual hike, but yeah, 20-35miles/day? Hike of doom.)

When I need to breath, to get away, to forget things while at the same time processing them in overdrive, I will go to the mountains and just feel the strength and slow heart and breath of the earth and everything it gives life to. One can't hear it, only feel it. It's an amazing feeling, one that you cannot get unless you can close your eyes, clear your ears, still your breathing... There's so much said in that silence, but you can only hear it with your heart and soul. If you've never experienced it, I would highly suggest finding such a spot, wherever you can. There is nothing more healing or renewing of your spirit than that experience.

 

[Windswept Sky]

I would love to stay in a cabin in the middle of beautiful nowhere for a few nights alone. I think a silent retreat could definitely do me a lot of good.

I love being in nature. It is the only place I really feel like I am anywhere close to home. Maybe it is because I am surrounded by life as it was meant to be, rather than man-made order and chaos...

 

[Raichan]

Silence is where you find certain peaceful truths.

 

[Stillwater]

I just did an hour nature walk on my lunch break through a nearby bog, supposedly the largest natural bog in N. America.

One thing I noticed is that after about 20-30 mins. of being out in the woods or nature, and alone with the silence, I let out this deep sigh. It's not calculated, just happens on it's own and feels like I've decompressed. I think my mind realizes it can fully relax and doesn't have to be vigilant about answering phones or questions, or emails or flashing msn crap, it can just be in what feels like its natural state.

As much as we attempt to divorce and separate ourselves from it, we are fully of the earth and related to all its inhabitants.

 

[periculosa]

Off topic, but Lincoln suspended habeus corpus and imprisoned political dissidents and newspaper editors. I don't have any respect for him.

But yeah, a walk in nature always lifts my spirits.

The Sandberg quote reflected Sandberg's views of the world; who knows if Lincoln truly shared them. And yes, I agree, Lincoln did terrible things to liberty in the name of security.

 

[Raichan]

"Alone time when I distance myself from the voices of the world, so I may hear my own."__Oprah Winfry