A Still Place

Where is your still place?
The place where you sit and think.
The place you make lists  On pen and paper....or just in your mind.
The place where you drink coffee out of your " special" mug
The place where you write.
The place you can be still.

My place is at the kitchen table. In the mornings it is the brightest part of the cottage.
It feels a cheerful place even though we still haven't got the lino sorted.
The kitchen has three windows.
Opposite, on the outside of the fridge and in my direct line of sight is a snapshot of everyday life here.
A collection of photos and memorabilia which can only be understood by the Prof and I


My still place isn't the field, or the garden or on the top of Gop hill with it's magnificent views over the vale of Clwyd.
My still place is sat at the kitchen table................ looking at the fridge door.

52 comments:

  1. My still place is my designer's bench. When I need to take a deep breath and walk away, I just walk upstairs and sit there, Put the tools and stones on the bench and allow myself to get lost there among the colors and the quiet, Truly neither the garden, nor the kitchen, or the patio can be compared with the quiet, lovely loneliness of the studio.

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  2. My still place is under the house. It is where I keep my still - producing a regular stream of "Yorkshire Terrier" hooch.

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  3. That photo of Meg is so poignant . I remember when you posted it .

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  4. Stillness is becoming more of a concept than a reality for me these days. I need a potting-shed really.

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  5. At my desk early in the morning while the house is quiet. Coffee in my favorite mug. Time to think. Time to read. A time of peace before the day begins.

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  6. I want my still place to be in the garden room looking through the patio doors, but it just does not feel right yet, do mine too at the moment is the kitchen table, or snuggled on the sofa.

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  7. Anywhere in my home now is my still place. Not always coffee ;)
    x

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  8. My still place is anywhere in the house but mainly the 'dining room' which is in the middle of the house. I feel still and safe there.

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  9. Anonymous10:54 am

    My place is here at the computer chair. Our balcony is a nice place for stimulation. My thinking time is done in the shower when I take a long shower on a non working day, a long blast of hot of plentiful high pressure hot water and should it is measly water saving trickle, I will have no thinking time apart from composing a post to complain about water saving showers.

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  10. When I first started meditating, I had a houseful of teenage kids. So my still place was the floor of my clothes closet in the back of my bedroom -- as far from the noise as I could get.

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  11. The subway train, more specifically the yellow line, inbound in the morning, Surrounded by silent strangers.

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  12. I am surprised it's not the loo, john! :)

    I see puppy pix and a race tag and people pix.

    my place would be the sunporch; windows on 3 sides and cats sleeping on the furniture and knitting in my hands and quiet.

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  13. Anonymous11:48 am

    I try to have a still place- mine too is at the kitchen table looking out to the front garden. But I am not ever left alone long enough to be still and think. This is something I have been yearning for for years. I need a potting shed too- (with a lock on the inside door!)

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  14. When I stopped to think, where is My still place.. I first thought, my whole house is a still place .. since my husband died. Partly why I got a cat , ok, cats. The house is too still ... all the time. But the place I like to go to be still and peaceful is mostly out in the back garden where I can hear the wind in the trees that line my property, the birds, as in the second murmuration this year- yesterday !
    and where I can hear the Highland Cattle calling someone to come get that damned horse out of their hay, they are tired of sharing.
    I guess my home is my still place these days.
    My husband taught Meditation a long time ago ... he said you Still Place is within you .. you just have to be still and quiet and you can find it.

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  15. I need a still place.....daughter just been dumped by first/only boyfriend/friendwhoisaboy (by text) because he can't cope with her mental health issues (anxiety/depression/ptsd). the heartbreak of your child is unbearable.
    I feel like Wellfleetgal as there is no place or peace to be Still.
    I'm taking her to the stables later so she can watch the chickens while I shovel shit. It's lovely there.
    x

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  16. Anonymous12:36 pm

    In my car. Nobody bothers me there.

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  18. My end of the sofa, with feet up and a mug of tea in hand, is my still place, listening to the tick of the wall clock lists are made life is contemplated and world domination plotted! "My end" being the opposite to the end owned by the little black terrier on his cushion.

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  19. 'Just to Say' ... my still place is looking out to sea on Llandudno prom with a Pug at my feet.

    She patiently sits and waits while Mum just stands and stares at the waves, the JRs would be pulling, barking and itching to get on with the walk if I tried it with them.

    You can find a still place anywhere with a Pug by your side, but I love that yours is at your kitchen table surrounded by the animals that love you and faced with a door of special memories.

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  20. My special place depends to some extent upon the weather. If it is a sunny day - winter or summer - then the sitting room bay with my chair and my desk is my special place. Cooler and it is by the Aga where I can sit and keep warm. Special places are so important.

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  21. Good to hear and see your 'still spot', John........made me very still.
    My 'spot' is at the river.

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  22. For me it depends on the time of year and where I am! In France, in the summer it's is in the morning on the swing chair with a book by my side before the sun gets too hot. When in England at this time of year it is where I now sit in my study amongst my favourite things.

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  23. On my morning walk, alone with my thoughts. On a clear day, I can see forever (ok, I stole that).

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  24. And yet that's a very ACTIVE fridge door!

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  25. The back porch of my house. I can see my chickens and the bird feeder and part of my garden and some of the huge, centuries-old oak trees and I am sheltered but still outside.
    This is my place.

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  26. Quiet mornings at the dining room table for me. Before anyone else wakes up. Just me, coffee and the animals. Beautiful.

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  27. I begin and end my day in my quiet place... In my bed with really good lavender scented sheets and a 5 pound Maltese/Poodle curled up by my side. I think my most creative thoughts while sliding into or out of dreams.

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  28. the place i feel most relaxed is in my kitchen cooking. cooking is my meditation. i totally zone out and do all my thinking and planning while i cook.

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  29. Anonymous3:28 pm

    It sounds like a lovely thing to have....a still place...... I'd have to get up in the middle of the night to find one of those and even then there's no guarantee.

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  30. My still place is at my work table. Not the computer table but the work table. The chair although old and broken in just the right hight for the table. It is held together with duck tape and comfy with pillows for my back and hips.
    I can look out side at my beautiful view of the Catalina Mountains and clouds through the citrus grove. I can see my wall of photos and inspiration pieces much like your frig.
    But what makes it so special is the fluffy pillow below the table where Watson and thehamish curl up and sleep offten on my feet as I write think or draw. Usually at the early morning or very late at night when the day hasn't yet become noisy or busy.

    cheers, parsnip

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  31. Anywhere in our house, unless the cats are being needy or pushy - then no place is quiet, not even the bathroom, unfortunately :)

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  32. I carry my Still Place with me. When total escape is necessary, I drive out to Whiskey Creek and sit by the water's edge. After the first rain or two of the year, I sit on a patio chair, close my eyes and breathe in the earth scent of thirsty soil. When I want to stay in pajamas and drink my hot tea, my Still Place is the big chair that sits by the big window with the sun shining in (or not), legs wrapped under me, surrounded by my books.

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  33. I don't know that it qualifies as "still", but when I go for my morning or lunchtime walks--when it's just me, my iTunes, and my walk--I find that I can think better, make lists, plan things out, work through problems, and so on.

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  34. Kitchen table looking out at the bird table & feeders x

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  35. Looking at the sky. Or the birds. In the past it was swimming. While I did my laps I would focus my day. It has been so long since I swam these days I would have to concentrate on not drowning.

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  36. John, thanks for this! It made me realise I don't HAVE a still place and need to find/create/discover one for myself. I don't know how I hadn't noticed.

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  37. In this house, it's the dining room, as I make most of my lists and do my thinking at the dining room table.

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  38. Sitting in the sexshed in our garden, with a mug of coffee. Watching the birds, laughing at the squirrels antics, noticing the tiny changes as the year turns. Reflecting and planning. Mindfulness at it's best.

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  39. Anywhere (when my mind will leave me alone)

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  40. In town, I really have no still place...but the farm, that is my still place. When I get there, it doesn't really matter where I am, it's all 'zen' to me.

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  41. On my front porch...drinking my cup of coffee...waiting for the sun to come up. (and when I have my 1 year old grand nephew with me ...all the better)

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  42. Haddock's, overlooking Monty's grave.

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  43. I've just been put on gliclazide tablets (to add to all the others) to help bring down my blood-glucose level. As they're giving me constipation you might be able to guess where my still place is - somewhere there's there's little or no movement. :-)

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  44. Honoured we're on the fridge door! ;-) Team Kxxxx

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  45. My kitchen table is my still place. Doing a crossword in the morning with a cup of coffee, before I steel myself to face yet another day at the office. I look out at my little fernery, missing the terracotta face that hung on the fence, framed by an old timber window frame, that was nicked. Grrr. Now I'm getting cross remembering that someone invaded my sanctuary and stole it. Bastards!!! Deep breaths,,,

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  46. When I sit with a tree at my back, but I don't make lists there. I make lists at the kitchen table too, looking out the window either at the chookies or my empty horse yard, depending on which seat I choose.

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  47. I am so pissed that some vile person had the nerve to trespass on Ninaschens property and steal her terra cotta face :(

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    Replies
    1. Thank you NFA. At least I still have my own face, though it's no picture, let me tell you! :)

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  48. My still place is usually early morning sitting with my cup of coffee in my big overstuffed chair, feet up on the ottoman, gazing out the parlor windows by the fireplace and watching the neighborhood coming to life.

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  49. Yours is a wonderfully still place. I like that you have mementos on the fridge.

    My still places are many.

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