Take More Time, Cover Less Ground
A New Lyric Video, Thoughts, A Practice & Community Question
Hi Everyone,
Today I wanted to write a little about one of the songs on my new album A Great Wild Mercy. First, here is a link to the song on Spotify. I hope you’ll take a listen, share it and perhaps add it to one of your playlists. Its called “Take More Time Cover Less Ground”. It was based upon a Thomas Merton quote and it’s about the practice of attention and developing a sense of gratitude and awareness even in the midst of a busy day.
I once read a study that affirmed an experience many of us have experienced— in moments of awe and wonder we perceive time as expanding. When I’m feeling anxious about the limitations of time, it doesn’t help matters when I try to squeeze more into my outer experience. Interestingly, if I slow down and really be present to the moment I am living, it feels as if time expands from the inside.
My friend Parker tells the story of a surgeon who is explained something important to a new resident who would be assisting during the surgery. The surgeon said, “This is a very delicate and important moment in the procedure and I will have only 3 1/2 minutes to make the repair and tie off the vessels.” The new resident said, “I get it, at that point you really need to hurry.” But the surgeon replied, “ Just the opposite. Because this is delicate and so important, I need to slow down, be completely focused and do each movement intentionally.”
Take More Time might be what the doctor ordered, to expand the moment from the inside with interest, curiosity and gratitude.
Here is the YouTube Link
Practice
Take a walk somewhere familiar. It could be from your kitchen to living room, a path in a park, your walk to the subway, from your car to the office door, just anywhere that is familiar. The practice is to slow down your pace and take twice as long as it usually would to get from point A to point B. Breathe a little deeper and see what you notice (something along the way you don’t usually consider so carefully, the impulse to speed up, the way the air feels or you body moves at that pace, etc).
Question
What did you notice? Tell us about the experience.
Fall Tour Schedule
I’ll be traveling to the south eastern part of the United States soon! Check for details or get tix at www.carrienewcomer.com/tour
One Inch Photos
lily and ella-bear on the ridge top path…heading into the evening glow
Carrie - thank you for this encouragement. I went out with Scout tonight on a trail we have walked hundreds of times probably. But tonight I decided to let Scout set the pace. So when she stopped to sniff, I stopped and let her sniff as much as she wanted. When she was ready to move, I moved. It was wonderful.
Precious Carrie--
I’ve been listening to “A Great Wild Mercy” this whole week. The song that keeps singing in my heart is “Take More Time, Cover Less Ground.” It especially resonates this week as the trees in this area reach peak color. That means the leaf peepers come out, cars driving in an endless stream on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Instead, my husband and I walk in the woods near our house and enjoy the play of the sunlight on the trees. We cover less ground but are filled with gratitude for the bountiful beauty of creation.
I hope you take some time to enjoy the trails this week while you’re at Kanuga Conference Center, which is near our home. Our favorite is Rufus Morgan to Geyer Long Rocks, being still at the St Francis Chapel, wandering through the woods, and then gazing at the mountains in the distance from the top.
Thankful for the great wild mercy of hope, peace, and joy,
Carol
Carol