Create Harmony

Making Space for Quiet in a Noisy World

• Sally

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We explore a winter reset that swaps constant noise for subtle living, from softening your home to simple practices that calm a busy mind. Meditation, contemplation, and micro habits help us center down and carry quiet into daily life.

• winter well-being series and seasonal rhythm
• journaling as mental declutter and alignment
• choosing quiet amid device-driven noise
• house hushing to lower visual load
• micro doses of calm that compound
• nature’s pace as a model for rest
• Howard Thurman reading on centering

You can go to mycreateharmony.com to learn more


To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to the Create Harmony Podcast. You have just stepped into a space where the noise of your day is going to fade into the background and the pace is calming and unhurried. Here we together take some time to notice the small wonders around us. Things like the sunlight coming through the window or a quiet winter morning, having an extra blanket folded within reach. We let the turning of the seasons shape our rhythms here at Create Harmony so you can settle in, bring your favorite cup of tea, and join me as we explore everyday joys and abundant blessings that are waiting quietly in your life. This is episode 155, and I'm your host, Sally Burlington. So you've tuned in right here where we're journeying through our winter well-being series. This is what we do every year in the winter. It's how we stay tucked up and snuggled down during those cold, darker months of the year. So winter is when nature is more dormant and does a lot of resting and resetting. And so we take this time to try to incorporate practices in our into our lives and focus on all sorts of ways that we can reset our minds, our bodies, and our souls in order to prepare ourselves for the openings that happen in the spring. So last week, what we talked about was what we wanted to capture and hold on to and what we wanted to release at the beginning of a new year. We considered that question. And as part of that episode, I shared that I do a lot of journaling and I shared some of my processes and rhythms around that. And after we were done with our conversation, I had a few more thoughts that I thought I might want to share. I wanted to emphasize a part of that that I didn't really say as much about last week. But what I wanted to add is that my mind gets really cluttered. I think I might have said that, but just saying it again, my mind is cluttered. It tends to, I tend to be a little bit of an overthinker. I let myself get into a spin. And journaling is my way to declutter that. Journaling is my way to just get it out on the page in whatever way that happens. And this is not about being productive, it's about being in alignment with the way I want to live. Journaling helps me sort through all of the things in my life and helps me stay true to that alignment. So I'm just inviting you to consider what your own process of decluttering your mind might be. Um and just look at that, ask yourself that question. So this week, we're gonna move forward through that process and consider this from a slightly different angle. We're gonna consider how we can make space for quiet in a noisy world. So this world, as you know, is full of noise and a lot of stimulation everywhere we go, every store we go in, while we're running errands, every sporting event, every concert. I mean, the noise is significant. And since we tune into our devices a lot of the day, time that used to be downtime, like when we're standing in a line, when we're in a carpool line or waiting for something to happen, we tend to pick up our device and that fills our mind with more information and noise and what have you. So it is we have to be intentional about making space for quiet and letting our minds re reset and rest. And winter is a natural time to do that. Just like nature does, we can make some more space for quiet right here and now. And when I say quiet, this can mean a lot of different things. It doesn't necessarily just mean silence, it just can mean that the rhythm of your living, your day-to-day operations are a little more subtle, a little more quiet. One of the first things we're gonna talk about as quiet making space for quiet is the concept of house hushing. Now we've touched on this for several years during winter. It's a concept that was um originated with Michaeln Smith. She has a blog called The Nester. And her theory here is that we would basically, after we take down all of our holiday decorations and the glitz and the glam and the lights and bright colors and all the things, that we just sort of quiet our home environments, that we put away excess um tchotskis and things, that we maybe put things that are brighter that really command our attention. We put those to the side and we just make our homes just subtle and gentle and quiet, a lot like nature. It's echoing the same thing that's happening outside in nature during the winter. You don't see as many bright blooms and as many um sparkly things outside. And this is the same for our home. And the idea is that it would be a restful, gentle space that we could exist in for these months of the year. It doesn't have to be all the time, but it's just these months of the year. So you might try house hushing at your house in some way, whatever way that works for you. And maybe you only want to do just your bedroom or your bathroom, some small space that makes you feel like it's a little bit of a sanctuary that you come to each day. So also making space for quiet involves both contemplation and meditation. And we we tend to use these two terms together a lot. We talk about being contemplative and meditative, and they're really pretty distinct from one another. Before we get into the nuts and bolts of exactly what contemplation and meditation are, I want to touch on this. If you've been listening to the last few episodes, you might remember that we were talking a little bit about focus. The other week I shared a story where I uh told the whole story and then I emphasized whatever you focused on in the story. There were some good things and some bad things. Whatever you just focused on was going to be your lived reality. And that is important. And we also reminded you that you have total control over that. You are the only one in the whole wide world who is in control of what those things are that you focus on. And that is going to determine the reality in which you live. So I want to just revisit that as we're going into contemplation and meditation. Something I've shared about myself in the past is that I am a list maker. I love to write things down and make lists. But several years ago, maybe five, I realized I had an epiphany about my list that I was making lists about all sorts of things, about what to organize, about my work, about things for my children, about fitness, about all sorts of productivity-minded lists. But nowhere on any of those lists were anything that related to being peaceful. But yet I wanted peace in my life. I wanted to be more calm. I wanted peace. I just wasn't really pulling that into my action items, if you will. And some seasons it's more difficult to add those things than others. Some seasons are catch as catch can. I've recently been through a season that was more like that. And when you are in those seasons, just add some micro doses of peaceful living into it. Create some little stepping stones for yourself to walk on to get to a less hectic my mindset. Because even adding one tiny bit of these habits can be impactful to the way that you live. So, but if you have more space, you want to open it up, add more of these types of activities, and that will give you more peaceful living. So circling back around to contemplation and meditation, let's define what those mean. So let's start with meditation. Meditation is basically the practice of focusing the mind on something. So when we just talked about focus, when you are meditating, you try to have a mantra or you focus on your breath. And the purpose of that is to move you away from all of the things that are spinning in your head and give you something to focus on. So that's why there are guided meditations where you're listening to someone's voice help guide you and that that draws your attention to that so that then you're not thinking, oh gosh, I got to do this, and oh my goodness, and what about this, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All the things. So meditation is that process of finding something to focus on. And it does not need to be complicated. You can focus on anything. You can light a candle and focus on the flame. You can focus on looking out the window. You can focus on your breath or any mantra you want to say, whatever works for you. It can be done in little three-minute increments. But the more you do it, the better you get at it. It is like a muscle that you're exercising. So sometimes people avoid meditation because they think of it as like this really intense thing that they don't think they can do. But again, micro doses. Come up with an affirmation, maybe a scripture verse, if that's what works for you, whatever will draw you back to it. Now, contemplation is something different. That's a totally different endeavor. When you are trying to contemplate, it is the habit of setting aside time and space to really think through things more deeply, to process the things in your life that have happened or maybe are going to happen. And really go more deeply, not just touch the surface of that issue, but really like marinate in it and think it through. Sitting sitting down. And this is I use journaling a lot for contemplation to really work through some things that I'm trying to do and approaches that I want in my life. And for me, I find that contemplation works best if I am doing it while I'm also doing another activity. And if you are really a resistant to meditation, if that doesn't work for you, then start with contemplation because you can do that while you're cooking or where you're listening to your favorite song on repeat or while you're taking a walk or journaling, or I like to do it when I'm doing my jigsaw puzzle. I like to sit there with a notepad right beside me and I do my puzzle and I put the pieces in and I think, okay, what could I do about this and how would I want to handle this? Or did I have the right approach when I, you know, dealt with that issue? So those are all things that are done sometimes with other stuff going on. Now, when I say other stuff going on, I'm not talking about binging Netflix or scrolling through your social media feed. I mean, that stuff's fine too, and if you want to do it, great. But you're you're gonna need to make space for something other than that, for other than just stopping your body moving and watching Netflix, because that doesn't really get you it doesn't give you uh the reflection time that you would need or the rest that your mind would need, like meditation and contemplation. And you can remember to look to nature for some inspiration here. Sometimes where I get this wrong, like when I'm wanting to rest and reset, is that I do it for like one day and I think, oh, I rested yesterday. But winter is a whole season, it's like months long and longer in some areas of the world than others. So use that as a source of inspiration that sometimes quieter and more subtle, gentle living needs to go on for a little longer in order to give you the right fuel to go into a more blossoming season, a more energy-filled, filled season. So just think about that. Let this season give you permission to lean into this type of behavior. Now, for our closing today, I'm gonna share a reading from Howard Thurman, the mystic and uh theologian. And this is from his book Meditations of the Heart. The reading is called How Good to Center Down and it goes like this. How good it is to center down, to sit quietly and see oneself pass by. The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic, our spirits resound with clashings and noisy silences, while something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and for the resting lull. With full intensity we seek, ere the quiet passes, a fresh sense of order in our living, a direction, a strong, sure purpose that will structure our confusion and bring meaning in our chaos. We look at ourselves in this waiting moment, the kinds of people we are. The questions persist. What are we doing with our lives? What are the motives that order our days? What is the end of our doings? Where are we trying to go? Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused? For what end do we make sacrifices? Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life? What do I hate most in life? And to what am I true? Over and over the questions feed in upon the waiting moment. As we listen, floating up through all the jangling echoes of our turbulence, there is a sound of another kind, a deeper note, which only the stillness of the heart makes clear. It moves directly to the core of our being. Our questions are answered, our spirits refreshed, and we move back into the traffic of our daily round, with the peace of the eternal in our step. How good it is to center down. May it be so. Contemplative and meditative living, I want to remind you about our seasonal series boxes. I've mentioned this before, so basically it's a collaboration with Petal and Pink Mental Wellness Boutique, and there's a box each quarter. What comes in each box are lots of cozy and um uplifting self-care items, and then a link for five guided meditations. So this is a great way to add more meditative time into your life. And these meditations are easy to follow. You just sit down, and what you will enjoy is a very immersive experience where you are listening to my voice guide you to a very peaceful place. You get to step away from your life for just a minute. If you want that, our cozy time uh theme is on sale right now for winter. And then there's a box in the spring, in the summer, and one following in the fall. So you do not want to miss that. You can go to mycreateharmony.com to learn more and hope you'll incorporate that into your life. And until next time, peace.

Contributor

Sally Burlington

Host