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I thought my friend was crazy for doing a silent retreat in Vermont
She came back from a week at this place in the woods with no phone or talking allowed. I figured it was just a weird fad for rich people with too much time. Then my own head got so loud after a bad work project that I booked a weekend at a cheaper spot upstate. Sitting alone in a cabin for two days with just a notebook felt like torture at first. But around hour 20, my brain just... stopped. I wasn't thinking about emails or what I said wrong in a meeting. I just watched a spider build a web for an hour. It wasn't magical, but it showed me how much noise I carry around for no reason. Has anyone else tried something like this and had it actually work?
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vera_lewis27mo ago
You said your brain just stopped around hour 20. What did you write in your notebook before that point, just complaints?
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the_wyatt7mo ago
It was mostly just weird observations about the wallpaper pattern. What do you think happens when your brain shuts down like that?
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the_diana5mo ago
I went to a meditation thing in a church basement once. Not silent, just guided. But there was this one guy who did a 10-day silent retreat in Massachusetts. He came back and wouldn't talk about it for a month. Just stared at walls. Finally he told me his brain felt like it had been washed with a garden hose. I didn't get it then. After my own weekend upstate, I got it. That spider web thing you described? I watched a moth sit on a windowsill for 45 minutes. It's not entertainment. It's like your mind finally takes a nap.
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ellioth377mo ago
So did you keep the notebook after that spider moment, or was it all just venting like vera_lewis2 guessed?
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