Two Pages

Lesson one - read articles, choose a topic and write two pages. Advice given is to not listen to anything but natural sounds. Starbucks is out, pushing their CDs through the sound system. OK an outside table will be better. That's out; young lady is typing on her computer but listening to her music with no earphones. I'll go get a haircut and think of somewhere to listen to nothing but nature. Writing in a quiet reflective place is what I need. Just where is that? 92.9 FM is the choice of the barbers. More musical interruptions. Just think! Where can I get two hours of silence or just natural sounds. I'll go home and just not turn on the TV. Yikes! the chipper shredder across the street is constant. Chain saws starting and stopping isn't good.

I'll get on the #1 bus and just ride around and think of what I'm going to write about. You've got to be kidding! Do they know how much music and bass tones escape their IPOD earphones? They're nodding to the artificial sounds and I can't wait to get off. Harvard Square isn't any better. Buskers bleating and drummers beating to fill your ears and their pockets. Ah, a park is the perfect place. I'll find a bench and listen to the birds and watch the squirrels gathering their nuts for the winter. Class must be out; all the benches are full of cell phones users and smokers talking to each other in raspy voices.

This isn't good at all. I'm trying to write "people"! I've brought my yellow pad and a fine Cross pen I accidentally kept when I was staying at the "Kempinski" hotel in Berlin. Now that was a quiet hotel. No music in the lobby; the bellhops and concierge were exceptionally soft spoken. Down in the spa area their were plenty of tables and no noise other than the trickle of water in the marble fountain.

Well, I'm not going to get to Berlin tonight and I have to write now. I guess I'll just have to realize I live in a city and there are city sounds I can't escape. I'll try not to write and see if this reverse philosophy works. The more I get used to these city sounds, the more I will quiet down inside my mind and be able to concentrate on the writing. Rain! I hadn't thought about the elements. The wind is picking up. Is that a "dust devil" swirling the leaves around and around? I better go inside and remember "try not to write". Let it flow and bubble to the top. That's the philosophy.

Wait, if I'm trying not to write is that really trying? Can I use meditation or yoga to try and clear my mind? That's too much work. all I'm doing is trying to find two hours to write if I can first find a subject to write about. This is not rocket science. I'm a grown man and should be able to focus on a task and accomplish it. I have always been mission oriented but I don't think I'll be able to write two measly pages.