Too much thinking?

Have you ever been confronted by your own thoughts when they are travelling at absurd speed? This past Friday evening, running late for a talk, I was walking really fast and thinking really fast about everything that had happened during the week. And lots happened, both good and not so good, depending on how one sees it. In any case, this tsunami of thoughts was flooding my mind at incredible speed – and my steps were going in the same pace, as I was almost running through Covent Garden to arrive on time.

The moment I stepped into the hall, where people were seated immersed in a completely different atmosphere, it felt as if my thoughts had collided with a wall of quietness. Everyone was chilled out, in a good mood, and quite relaxed. More importantly, there was a “silent space” around, which highlighted to me the speed of my thinking. And, just as a giant wave eventually calms down, this silence started to ease my thinking, until my mind was finally almost still. They were meditating. And that meditation was like medication for my mind – suddenly there it was: my week, my many thoughts, now dissolved like a small spray absorbed by the sand.

Free To Be