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George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
Okay, so that statement is open to major interpretation, but I couldn't think of any other way to say it in the subject line.
I've noticed since I was a kid that now and then I need to just sit quietly, with my eyes closed, and let my brain sort itself out. No music, no white noise, just total quiet. I'm not trying to solve a specific problem, and I don't see it as "meditation" in the usual sense, since I'm not focusing on any one thing or goal - it's almost like I'm sorting out a plate of linguini with clam sauce as my brain jumps from one thing to another and follows this thread or that one and eventually I feel like everyting is back where it wants to be. I don't have a clue if this "has a name," or if it's just unusual, but I've mentioned it to a few people over the years and no one else seems to need it: they can't imagine just sitting there quietly and not doing anything. "Down time" for most people seems to be listening to music, or reading, or going for a walk, or even watching TV. The weird thing is, if I don't do this for an extended period of time (like just recently), I get totally exhausted. Anybody else do this, or something similar?
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
Magnus Eisengrim Inner circle Sulla placed heads on 1053 Posts |
Meditation. It's a good thing.
For many people, prayer serves a similar function. For me, my best down time is running. It would be ruined by music. John
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.--Yeats |
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
I do. For the same reasons that I might cop a siesta to allow my body to rest, I also find that when I start to overamp in the thinking department, with a ton of different things fighting for my attention, it is good to rest for awhile and think of nothing. Total silence is impossible where I live, but I just try not to focus on any ambient sounds while I am detoxing my brain.
But, the linguini with clam sauce analogy is very odd. Untying the knots, I suppose. There is similar therapy in unballing strings of Christmas lights, but few suffer it with grace.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
dave_matkin Inner circle 4522 Posts |
Ou are not along. The likes of Einstein and Newton did a lot of 'day dreaming' where they let the brain wander and not necessarily thinking of anything in particular. It is said that Einsteins relatives came to him in a day dream (or something like that ).
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Slide Special user 533 Posts |
This is exactly what zen mediation is all about:
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Tom Cutts Staff Northern CA 5925 Posts |
I do guitar or pinball instead. The rest of the world just melts away.
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critter Inner circle Spokane, WA 2653 Posts |
I do this in the park usually (or at home) and call it zazen. I hear Randi does it in his office and calls it "sitting down and being quiet." Whatever you want to call it, I believe that there's a lot of research touting it as beneficial.
I'm actually taking a Buddhist Psychology class with an actual Tibetan Monk who's one of the refugees in the Dalai Lama's inner circle. He told us that his school has many types of meditation, from goal directed to this kind.
"The fool is one who doesn't know what you have just found out."
~Will Rogers |
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-10-14 14:46, Michael Baker wrote: Yep, that's pretty much what I meant. That analogy goes back a bunch of years. I was talking with a friend about what we do, and she said she wasn't creative at all, but loved to sort things out and put them in order, and dot the i's and cross the t's. So I decided to bust on her and said, sure, if I gave her a plate of linguini w/ clam suce, I could see how she'd love to sort it all out into sizes and such. The moment she agreed w/ me, I said, me, I'd just eat it.
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
Funny, George! Well, I suppose when you get all mentally tensed up, just go make something to eat and tell the world to go **** itself. Come to think of it, that actually works well.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
tommy Eternal Order Devil's Island 16544 Posts |
Well yes I guess, I like getting out of city sometimes or into a place in the city that is quite, like the art gallery or the musem or a chuch or to go for a walk down the canal, somewhere peacful away from the mob. On the other hand sometimes it's dead quite here and I can't wait for the boys to arive for the game. I think its best to keep on the move though as things that don't move go off. Learn and do learn and do .... eat and move
If there is a single truth about Magic, it is that nothing on earth so efficiently evades it.
Tommy |
critter Inner circle Spokane, WA 2653 Posts |
Last night I was getting burnt from studying so I ran to the store and got the stuff to make Oatmeal Scotchies. I baked those and brewed up a nice cup of tea with a little splash of coconut milk. That wound me down to study more.
Tea is very important in keeping me sane. My pantry is half full of various teas for this reason. Reading in the tub is something else I get edgy going too long without. A little ditty about tea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4lbqmg4POg
"The fool is one who doesn't know what you have just found out."
~Will Rogers |
TonyB2009 Inner circle 5006 Posts |
I do it all the time. Meditation does not need to be goal-orientated. It never is when I do it. Just sitting in silence, with the mind going quieter and quieter. Like a shower for the brain.
Check out Tony's new thriller Dead or Alive http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alive-Varrick-Bo......n+carson
http://www.PartyMagic.ie |
Mary Mowder Inner circle Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA 3659 Posts |
On the way to sleep and laying in bed after waking, I just let my mind go.
I'm hovering between sleep and wakefulness but dreaming does happen or better than usual imagination. I've had some very productive thought then. Insights, Visions of Magic and Stories, new ways of doing current projects and such. It isn't like lucid dreaming because I make no attempt to control it. These daydreams are easier to recall than normal dreams because they occur in flashes like a clear cut scene and are more focused (all on one subject) than dreams. It is generally like just watching something real without the weird stuff that dreams may have. I enjoy it and it is quite a useful habit over time. -Mary Mowder |
Pakar Ilusi Inner circle 5777 Posts |
I need "going down" time...
If you know what I mean.
"Dreams aren't a matter of Chance but a matter of Choice." -DC-
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mvmagic Inner circle Has written 1322 Posts |
I don't necessarily sit still to unwind my brain. Building models is one of those things...I can concentrate on it for hours and I usually don't think about anything but the task at hand...thats highly relaxing. Also, getting out in the woods is one way to reset my brain. My mother-in-law's ranch has about 10 acres of forest and it needs pruning...and usually the branches and whatnot are burned on the spot as there's really no use for them. When we get there, I change to my work clothes, load some dry wood and tools to a wheelbarrow and head out. Make a nice fire and start working. No wandering thoughts, just the task at hand. The whole thing just puts me in a different mindset-I've noticed years ago that when I am in that state, I can't even start to think about a problem or next day's dinner as the whole thought just...well shatters I guess.
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Tom Jorgenson Inner circle LOOSE ANGLES, CALIFORNIA 4451 Posts |
I seem to need solitude and silence like I need air. I also need the crowds and hoo-haw, but after that, I need the days to flow in Tommy-Time with no one around, no interruptions to flowing thoughts or to space-brain zenesque no-thought. Then I defuse, unhitch, depressurize...just exist in that old 'Be Here Now' thing. It's especially strong after being on the road for a while.
If I can't do that for a day or two, I get real cranky and impatient until I do. It's hard to explain to people who don't have that need. I used to worry about it until I finally realized that it's me, the way I am, so deal with it. Now I factor it in and life is good.
We dance an invisible dance to music they cannot hear.
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Cliffg37 Inner circle Long Beach, CA 2491 Posts |
I certainly need my down time. Oddly enough not after a show. After a show I am ready for more. As a teacher, being "on" all day and in a very vigilant state, I need to just veg. My wife honors my need, but does not really "get it". I wonder if there is a male/female difference in terms of that?
Magic is like Science,
Both are fun if you do it right! |
mvmagic Inner circle Has written 1322 Posts |
I've often been wondering about my duality...I need solitude and silence. But one thing I absolutely love is wandering about in Vegas...love the crowds, the hassle, the lights, the sound mix inside a casino...I don't even play but just love the ambiance there. that's light years away from being alone in the woods. Both these environments make me happy and relaxed.
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
I practice juggling every day for about a half an hour. Juggling takes my mind and body to another place. I guess it is a Zen like state, and it is also very habit forming. With the exception of recovering from open heart surgery I have not missed a day of juggling for over 30 years.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
Jim Sparx Inner circle Far Out, Texas 1144 Posts |
Right now I am digging post holes for 1200 feet of fence, about two hundred of them, so I have not been here for awhile. I've lived in both yoga ashrams and zendos and I find digging in the earth more meditative than sitting in a lotus posture trying not to think of anything. Maybe it is the hard work that keeps me away from the everyday BS of the usual world. And that is relaxing...
Et tu, Spartacus?
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/chispadeelpaso.html |
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