Down the Lens of Waiting With Quietude

And still, we wait.

Ballot counting in the 2020 presidential election continues, although it sure looks like Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris are going to win. — Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American

Like everyone, I have been waiting all week for the final election results, holding my breath if not wavering between worry and hope. I guess this is to be expected as we wait out the painful process of counting all the ballots.

Yet, I have never been good at waiting. Nail biting is just the start of it. My anxiety shows itself in restlessness and even crankiness.

Of course, I recognize that is the democratic process at work, especially amidst the ongoing efforts of President Trump and his allies to squash a Biden victory through voter suppression and illegal challenges to counting the absentee ballots.

And so again, I have turned to a meditation practice to weather the days up to the election and this aftermath of uncertainty.

In fact, I have been introduced to the Zen precepts of not knowing, bearing witness, and effective or loving action.

To sit with “not knowing” is a powerful place to be, if we can calm the mind to go to that place, and instead of getting caught up in the angst or numbing out, we let ourselves bear witness to the events.

I imagine myself sitting on the shore of a river of boulders and white water. I will not venture into the fray but simply witness the ebb and flow of the rocky stream.

In these fraught times, this type of sitting on the sidelines may seem like a cop out. But, as explained so well in the article, The Practice of “Not-Knowing:” Relief of Stress, Ground for Effective Action , it is actually a path to activism.

Relief from the stress at not knowing paves the way for witnessing and then taking effective and loving action. It paves the way for quietude. I like the word “quietude.” It seems to be a combination of quiet and attitude, resonating both calm and strength, peace and purpose.

In these uncertain times, we could all use a daily dose of quietude. Let’s meditate on this everyday.

Originally published at http://mtseditorialservices.wordpress.com on November 6, 2020.