Stairway Healing Arts Center looks out over Main Street in Cambridge. Although Cambridge is a small, rural village there is a fairly steady swish of passing cars, the throaty sounds of pick-up trucks, and the more guttural roars of the occasional 18-wheeler. After meditating together this morning, someone commented that the traffic just becomes like the ocean in the background and she barely even noticed it after a while. It’s true. Once I sink in to the meditation, I don’t notice the sounds of the passing vehicles. They become part of the background. Not invasive or interruptive at all.

The same thing happens with the constant chatter and traffic of my mind; the thoughts that are constantly darting about in my head: what are we doing this weekend, what do I need to pick-up for dinner, don’t forget to call the insurance company, order more fire wood, pay the phone bill, transfer money… Once I begin to meditate those thoughts begin to quiet and settle. Instead of being the stars of the show in my head, they become quiet background music which comes and goes while I sit. Just like the traffic outside my window, the traffic in my head quiets too. And it feels really, really good.