Word Nerd Wednesday: Stillness
Happy Word Nerd Wednesday! Today’s story is about a very special pet, one we could all learn from.
Neptune is a majestic Greyhound who lives with a lady named Rose. The long-legged creature is an excellent runner, but he would rather spend his days napping or sitting quietly, watching the world with calm eyes. Rose’s friends are confused by how chill her dog is. They want to play with him but Neptune would rather just sit. It makes them wonder if there’s something wrong with him.
“No, there’s nothing wrong with him,” Rose assures them. “He just has a quiet essence.”
“Quiet essence” = quiescence (kwee-ES-ints or kwy-ES-ints, depending on who you ask), meaning a state of quietness or inactivity. In other words, stillness. Neptune embraces quiescence with his quiet manner and ability to relax. His calm and quiescent nature is confusing to people because it’s not what they expect. They assume he’ll jump up, eager to play, but instead he’s generally more content with peace and quiet.
We could all learn a thing or two from Neptune. He doesn’t care what people think of him, how they expect him to be, and he’s happy to be still. So many humans would love to find some peace, but they don’t know what to do with it when they have it. It takes a special kind of skill and grace to be comfortable with stillness and silence, to let oneself drift, for just a moment, into a state of quiescence.
Granted, we’d all have issues if we simply lazed around all day. But a quiescent moment, that’s a beautiful gift if you’re ready to accept it.