One might think that living out here promotes contemplation. And, I suppose, it does. In a way. But not like you’d think. H.D. Thoreau contemplated at Walden and, for the most part, that seemed to be the major function exercised there. He got good at it. But, for me, contemplation is a rarer thing not frequently experienced in the purest form. In fact, I seem to have very little time for it. Out here, I don’t live in my head.

I did in Vancouver. Some. I mean, of course I had to deal with the mundane chores of living in the city and earning a living but I also spent hours in the car and I confess to driving with only half my brain being occupied – if that. Most of the time I was driving I was thinking of other things. I was contemplative in the car.

In retrospect that was true of watching TV as well. I’d zone out. Of course, some part of me was conscious but, really, how much brain power is needed for watching TV? So much of the mental energy spent was quasi-contemplative at the very least.

Put another way; I thought a lot living in the city but I didn’t think I did. Ironic, don’t you think? (there it is again!).

One of the few places I found that my mind didn’t wander was the golf course. That may have been a hint that I could ‘let go’ when outside in nature but I didn’t really see it that way at the time. I was just walking and hitting a little ball and sharing some goofy jokes now and then with my playing partners. Good clean fun. No thought required. None given. Rare.

Even though pure contemplation time is even less out here – one has to focus when using a chainsaw or outboard motor after all – when you do choose to do so, you can do it like a pro. It is quiet. Distractions can easily be eliminated. And I am practically instantly in a Buddhist-like zone whenever I ‘stop to smell the roses’ or watch the whales go by. It just happens. It is almost spiritual.

I can even get it when puzzling out a simple mechanical problem or doing some plodding-but-not-so-heavy labour. I can slip into a comfortable zone. Like Thoreau.

Really heavy labour doesn’t do it tho. I am very much wishing for something else when engaged in a cement work, for instance. I loathe it. I have not transcended heavy labour. No Zen zone and concrete for me. I am just thinking of ‘getting ér done and getting out!‘.

The best time for me? I can lay in bed after awakening for up to an hour and feel the breeze coming in the open window with the faint sounds and smells of the sea and the nearby forest. I just lay there and think. It is glorious! No interruptions, no unpleasant noise, no worries, no schedules, no responsibilities…………..even the effects of gravity are lessened when horizontal.

It’s great.