Just Stop Running

Photography/Winter River Rock Spiral Creation by Gaye Abbott/2025

“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” ~Joseph Campbell

I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t spent so much time trying to control the events of it. If I had stopped running away and instead stepped towards the center of my being trusting life’s unfolding and synchronicity, and my own unique style of expression. If so much attention hadn’t given such importance to others opinions, demands and expectations.

When is it time to become the person we have come in to be?

Just the other day, taking my place in line, at a favorite Asheville restaurant, I saw a very tall red haired giant of a man, who could have been a Scottish Highlander in a previous life, standing back and staring into space. I then noticed that perhaps he had been in line and I had cut in front of him. Beckoning his attention back to earth I apologized for cutting in line and stepped back so he could take his place in front of me.

A conversation between us about daydreaming ensued in which he curiously asked me what my day dreaming was like. I remember saying something like “creative”. As we waited in line to order our conversation continued. He shared that he wrote poetry and had graduated from USFCA (University of San Francisco, California) in the Bay area with his MFA.

I asked him whether he had anything published, when really in hindsight my question might have been, “do you enjoy writing?” or “what does it feel like to you when you are creating poetry”? He answered my publishing question stating that when he would receive a “rejection” of his submitted poetry/writing that it sent him into a tailspin where he didn’t want to write anything for a year or two.

I felt great sadness when he said this, thinking about how much we depend on the approval of others for so many aspects of our lives. Rising and falling on the waves of opinions, expectations and critiques. Losing ourselves in the process of comparison. An amnesia of our unique expression.

How much of my own life had I done exactly that. Running away from the moment, from myself…..and from possibilities and opportunities that could have richly revealed themselves if I had only the courage to be still, to stop and wait – mind and body – and to trust.

Suddenly gazing into the mirror of artistry and saying yes to what is emerging. Realizing it is a choice to access and release into the wilds what calls to our hearts and souls.

Like exploring writing expression by creating a blog and sending it out into the world for the pure joy of it…

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This Stop Running teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh is beautifully, and at times stunningly, conveyed in the video below. He states that the habit of running is very strong in us. In our body and in our mind. Especially given the challenges we face today.

Be completely at ease in the present moment. Not searching for anything, not running away. Instead looking deeply in order to get insight.

“I have arrived. I am home. I do not have the need to run any more. What I am looking for is right here and right now. Listen to the music of your breath. Breathe In – I have arrived. Breathe out – staying in the present moment.”

What will be revealed?

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Gaye Abbott, Wildly Free Elder, 02/15/25