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In 2011 essayist and travel writer Pico Iyer wrote a piece for the New York Times on The Joy of Quiet. From that piece has come a wonderful TED talk in 2013 about Where is Home? in which Iyer asserts that it is stillness that gives movement meaning. This has been followed by a slim book in 2014, The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere.
The book is a meditation of sorts on the adventure that is being still and staying in one place. But talking about stillness, Iyer says is “really a way of talking about clarity and sanity and the joys that endure.” Iyer spends many pages talking about Leonard Cohen who spends a good amount of his time in a monastery in the mountains of southern California practicing the art of stillness. He talks about other people he has met, like the woman who sat next to him on a twelve-hour flight. She did nothing but sit quietly the whole time, no reading or looking at magazines, no doing the sorts of things you do on an airplane in order to endure the time you are on it. She just sat, quietly alert. It turns out she was on her way to vacation in Hawaii and she used this time as a way to disconnect from her overly busy life so when she touched down on the island she’d be fully present and relaxed.
But you don’t have to go to a monastery or take a vacation to a faraway place in order to get away from it all. Staying put, going Nowhere, is an adventure all on its own because you never know what you might find. There are all kinds of things waiting to be discovered. Iyer quotes Henry David Thoreau:
It matters not where or how far you travel — the farther commonly the worse — but how much alive you are.
Going Nowhere and sitting still is a journey but it is an inward journey. We hurry around trying to find happiness outside ourselves when, if we would only sit still, we’d find that happiness lies within. Cohen told Iyer that sitting still is “a way of falling in love with the world and everything in it.”
Iyer is well aware that sitting still is very hard:
Nowhere can be scary, even if it’s a destination you’ve chosen; there’s nowhere to hide there.
And he acknowledges,
It takes courage, of course, to step out of the fray, as it takes courage to do anything that is necessary, whether tending to a loved one on her deathbed or turning away from that sugarcoated doughnut. And with billions of our neighbors in crying need, with so much in every life that has to be done, it can sound selfish to take a break or go off to a quiet place. But as soon as you do sit still, you find that it actually brings you closer to others, in both understanding and sympathy.
Just like the paradox of exercise giving you more energy, taking time to sit still and be quiet and going Nowhere, gives you more time and energy to share with others.
The Art of Stillness is a beautifully written, gentle, simple book. Yet, as with Thich Nhat Hanh, the simple is not easy. If it were so easy to sit still we’d all be doing it and we’d all be much better off for it. But instead we fill every minute of the day and complain about still not having enough time. It is as though we are afraid of stopping, afraid of what might happen if we took five minutes, ten minutes to sit still and quiet. I very much liked that Iyer makes it into a great adventure. It puts a different perspective on going Nowhere. Because in going Nowhere we really are going Somewhere. Do we dare take that journey?
thanks for an inspiring review
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booksandbuttons, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
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The Art of a Stillness sounds like a book we all need to read. Whe I was in Hawaii recently and saw several people with their laptops on the beach, I knew I had officially fallen down the rabbit hole. There was so much beauty to savor and people just couldn’t tear themselves away for technology to Mistborn e still and enjoy it.
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boardinginmyforties, laptops on the beach in Hawaii? Wow, that is so very sad. The book is a very nice counter to a culture that tells us to go go go.
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I recently read “A Time to Keep Silence” by Patrick Leigh Fermor, which talks about the importance of stillness beautifully. This sounds like a very good follow-up read. Thank you for the review!
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This sort of stillness does seem to be a luxury item for fairly priveliged people. I know that is unfair and Iyer’s book is not meant in that way but I would be more interested to see how stillness can be practised in a sink council estate or by someone who is brutally exploited.
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Ian, funny you should say luxury because Iyer does comment a few times about how going slow is our time’s biggest luxury. There is definitely a difference between Iyer who can afford to regularly go on retreats to monasteries, myself who can’t afford retreats but I do have a garden and/or a quiet room to get away to, and a single mother with three kids living in public housing working three jobs just to try and make ends meet. It certainly becomes more challenging but it’s not impossible. There are moments in every day, waiting for the bus, standing in line at the grocery store, during which one can practice stillness. Very hard and not ideal and not right or fair. But that’s a whole other ball of yarn to untangle.
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Widget, I’ve heard Patrick Leigh Fermor is very good and you comment has made me want to read him even more now! 🙂
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Yesterday would have been Fermor’s 100th birthday. A Time Of Gifts is on my list of things to read this year.
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I discovered that yesterday afternoon. I have one of his books on my shelf I think it might be A Time of Gifts. Whatever the case, I am going to make it a point to read him this year.
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I think there are many forms of stillness, just taking a walk is one I enjoy, getting away without an agenda, just let my thoughts roll in as they may.
I also think the benefits of stillness remain to be demonstrated, that is with more systematic research. The examples you cite are instructive, but I wonder how widely they apply.
That’s my usual argument, even though I am aware the limitations of the research itself.
Thank you for a thoughtful blog.
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Richard, oh yes, there are many kinds of stillness. Iyer talks about taking a walk in the woods or going for jog. The point is to disengage your brain from from the constant thoughts and worries and bombardment of information. As for scientific demonstration of the benefits, is it really necessary? I mean, you can personally try it and decide for yourself if you derive any benefits. And if there are none, no harm done 🙂
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Do we really need on the benefits of stillness? I suppose we could ask that question of any commonsense or personal report of some experience. If answered in the negative, it would put an end to a great deal of psychological research. Maybe that’s a good thing. But individuals are curious, they want to know how widely the experience applies, it’s boundaries and limitations. The same could be said for wanting to know the genetics of fruit flies.
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ah, well that;s a different argument altogether. I would argue yes, we do need the benefits of stillness but then I’m biased. As for fruit fly genetics, don’t scientists consider it useful for studying any number of things in relation to genetics and medicine that might potentially have human benefits? Or maybe they just like flies 😉
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Studying the genetics of fruit flies has a generality that appears to be useful in studying humans. The same could be said for Mendel’s study of the genetics of sweet peas. Both serve as models of the genetics of a wide range of species, as far as I know. And as you suggest, studying these lowly creatures may have the potential for benefiting humans, etc. Crazy research may not be so crazy after all. And besides we all need a little craziness in our life.
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On that I agree, a little craziness is a good thing 🙂
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I definitely need this book, as scattered as I’ve been feeling lately. Putting it on the TBR right now.
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Laila, yeah, I’ve been scattered lately too and while the book didn’t “cure” me (it would take more than a book to do that!) it certainly did help me take a breath and start to apply the breaks. I hope you like the book if you read it!
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I find this sort of paradox fascinating. I’ve just finished re-reading Jeanette Winterson’s ‘Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal’ and was struck by what she says about story.
“When we tell a story we exercise control, but in such a way as to leave a gap, an opening. It is a version, but never the final one. And perhaps we hope that the silences will be heard by someone else, and the story can continue, can be retold.
When we write we offer the silence as much as the story. Words are the part of silence that can be spoken.”
The notion of words simply being the bits of silence that emerge is as fascinating to me as the idea of stillness being a journey.
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Alex, it is a fascinating paradox, doing by not doing, going somewhere without going anywhere. Fabulous quote from Winterson. Perhaps our brains are wired in such a way that when confronted with a paradox there is that gap that is created and the opening is where the magic happens.
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I have no problems being still and enjoying a beach, especially in Hawaii, but I do have big problems with this kind of outlook while in February in the north. Some seasons, and maybe some places, don’t need to be fully experienced, if you ask me.
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Jeanne, feeling a bit of cabin fever are you? 😉
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You know until about 2 years ago, I always thought travelling is great fun. Vacation equated to travelling. However in Dec 2013, for some reason or other I could not travel to any place and stayed two weeks at work! I did simple things – making coffee, reading books and just spending quiet time. It was the most refreshing, rejuvenating and calming time away from work ever! I still love travelling, but now I know the joy and value of just being still, at least for a while. I consciously chose not to go anywhere in Dec 2014, just so that I could be sure that this was not a one off thing….but the two weeks were blissful. There is much to be said about the “idea of going nowhere”
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cirtnecce, aren’t “staycations” nice? They really can be quite relaxing and you don;t have to deal with passports and airplanes and luggage. Bookman and I have done a couple where we pretend we’re tourists and go places around town we’ve never been to before. But even when I’ve had vacations and went no further than my garden or reading chair, it can really feel like a luxury!
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This sounds excellent; I got burned by the last Iyer book I tried (The Lady & the Monk, one of his older ones, which objectified every single woman in it, ugh). But perhaps he’s aged out of that nonsense & I especially like that this one is about *not* travelling. I spend a lot of my life in varying states of stillness, due to my health, so it’d be refreshing to see that celebrated. 🙂
Have you read Sara Maitland’s A Book of Silence? Excellent and might make a good companion read.
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Eva, I’ve not read any of Iyer’s other books and am not inclined to but this one was really nice. I have heard of Maitland’s book but forgot all about it until you just mentioned it! I might even have it on a shelf somewhere. I will have to track it down. Thanks!
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I’ve always wanted to read more of Pico Iyer. I have read that article from 2011. Stillness is a hard thing for me to achieve. Life seems so short I always want to be doing stuff! But, I now do yoga every weekday morning and while that’s not physically still I’m trying to train myself to be mentally quiet, to just focus on the yoga and breathing. Some days I’m better than others, but I do feel it’s good for me. And I realise that if I can achieve it I’m probably more productive in my non-still times!
I’m impressed by that lady in the plane!
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whisperinggums, stillness is hard for me too, I always feel like I should be doing something, idle hands and all that. It is very hard to shift to believing that doing nothing is doing something. Good job with the yoga!
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It sure is … Even in retirement I find it hard to settle without guilt. So, the lesson there is, don’t retire 😀
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But at least in retirement you theoretically get to do the stuff you want to do so that’s something 🙂
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Ooh I’ll have to read this one – I love books like this, though probably because I am still useless as stillness despite SO much practice. I read a Pico Iyer book not that long ago, and wish I could recall the title. I liked his writing though – very intelligent and beautifully done.
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Litlove, I like books like this too. They serve as a good reminder that there are many productive ways of being other than running myself ragged. Iyer does seem an intelligent writer. Perhaps I will try another of his books in the future.
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I ditto the suggestion to read Patrick Leigh Fermor–that would make a perfect companion read to this one. I have printed out the Iyer article and am going to track down the book–it is one I think I would appreciate very much right now! Thanks for the heads up.
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Danielle, I had a Barnes and Noble coupon and a gift card so I ordered the Fermor book. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the Iyer article and the book too when you get a chance to read it.
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