“Sitting by the fire at Allegany, listening to the creek, watching the critters, and losing oneself in the fire burning down is the absolute gold of getting away to anywhere. My love of Finger Lakes the same. Yes, it’s great to get out to the wineries, or hike a trail, but it’s better to get back and watch the water…”
My father
This was a reply my dad sent to my post, “Add Sitting To Your Travel Itinerary—Yes, Sitting…“
…Which was about how you can learn just as much from a place by mindfully sitting as you can from actively sightseeing.
But, I think you can also enjoy as much from a place by sitting—by a fire or body of water—as you can from doing (e.g. hiking a long nature trail or Jet-skiing).
In fact, what’s interesting about your ability to enjoy while remaining still… is that it’s reflective of your ability to enjoy—pure and simple.
The thing about doing, doing, doing is that it’s a form of active entertainment… there’s constantly refreshing scenery, there’s dopamine hits, there’s things to do with your body and places for your mind to curiously explore… it’s easy to enjoy while doing.
But, it takes a much more mature mind to enjoy while not-doing. To enjoy while sitting still. To enjoy when things are calm, when there’s no quick dopamine hits, when there’s nothing to actively do or think about…
This is the kind of deep enjoyment that comes from deep inner work… and it eventually gets to the point where it surpasses even the most incredible of active entertainments/adventures…