Day 1

As I settled down for my first 20-minute sit in the 30-day Sit Spot Challenge a stranger’s cell phone rang in my pocket. It was inevitable, I knew, ever since I picked up the phone from the path as I walked to my spot.

“Damn,” I thought, as I conversed with a pleasant male voice. “Does this count as part of my 20 minutes?” After agreeing that I would drop the phone off at his house after my walk, I settled into my silence.

Silence. Silence is a relative term. Sure, I had ceased talking. But cars had not ceased driving, planes had not ceased flying, Lolli had not ceased chewing her stick, and dogs in distant yards had not ceased barking.

It was still when I arrived. Snow-covered. Cold (low to mid 20s I’d estimate). A light breeze started up just after I arrived rustling nearby marcescent leaves – maple of all things. A few great tall trunks let go loud cracks and snaps.  I hear one isolated sound that might be a bird or a squirrel.

In my mind I fashion the question, “Where is the wildlife?”  Instantly I hear what I assume is a deer rising from a resting spot and moving through the woods, though I cannot see her.

The tree trunk at my back feels comfortable, like an old friend.  I feel my self relaxing.  This particular spot in the woods…  I call it a Power Spot.  I walk this path frequently and this spot always makes me stop.  I have never been able to walk right through.  Perhaps I’ll learn more about its power by pausing here every day for 30 days.  Perhaps I’ll learn its magic.

As I walk back to my car, I am quite pleased with myself for squeezing this Sit-Spot moment in between work and a girls-night-out movie.  It wasn’t the most profound experience of my life.  But it was a start.  Day 1.  May I have the commitment to complete the Challenge!