The Sound of Near Silence

What is the sound of one hand clapping? A theater full of amputees, I'm guessing. But it does raise a certain question: What does it take to get me to relax? My house is a monument to days off and weekends. Never a dull moment around here. That would be the joy of home ownership. Still, one might guess that the first full weekend of summer vacation would afford me some time for serious couch riding.
Nope. I warmed up last weekend with the front fence. That was only a weekend, so it might not have counted as a complete lapse of relaxation, but I got up early on Sunday to finish the thing. My wife insisted that I consider our neighbors and not start sawing and pounding before nine A.M. - not an easy request for me to handle. I wouldn't say that I'm hyperactive, but I don't have a very good track record for sitting still.
Many years ago I had a therapist ask me how much time I spent each day sitting quietly. Watching TV or listening to the stereo did not count, so I had to confess that the number was probably difficult if not impossible to measure. She suggested meditation. I took her advice to heart, as I am also very good at following directions. I sat in a chair and closed my eyes. I concentrated on sensing each quadrant of my body individually and made myself aware of the sound of my own breathing, then my own heartbeat. And you know what? I got pretty good at it. It was very relaxing. The problem was that once I got comfortable with it, I began to rush through it. She wanted me to do fifteen minutes a day. Fifteen minutes - a quarter hour of nothing. Geez.
Do I get that she was on to something? You bet I do. Would I get something out of taking a quarter hour each day to hold still? Yes I would. But that wall isn't going to paint itself. So I laid there in bed this morning at four thirty, and I waited until I was sure my wife was starting to stir before I started out to the living room to finish painting. Now it's four thirty in the afternoon, and the paint is dry. Everything is moved back into place, and it's like we moved into a brand new place. I could take a few minutes to sit quietly, but I've got to go get some charcoal. I promise to sense something on the way up to the store.