Recently, I was contemplating contemplation. “When did contemplation begin?” I asked myself. Contemplation likely began when early man became self-aware. Of course you may have your own theory, and that’s OK.
I imagine early humans squatting down and rocking back and forth next to a fire holding a diagram-making stick; they probably just called it, “stick.” They doodled in the dirt and thought about things. I bet they had some, “Holy Cow!” ideas. I’m sure they had lots of things to think about – perhaps issues related to daily labor to keep fed and sheltered. Maybe there were some relationship issues. They may have had some of those, “What was I thinking?!” moments. This was where contemplation was born, according to me.
Then I think, what do people contemplate about the most these days? Maybe a social embarrassment, like discovering your fly is down. “How long has that been down?” “How many people saw that and said nothing?” Or a zit that seems to have ripened after you last looked in the mirror and people you talked to seemed extra focused on you. When you discover it, in your mind you go back through every conversation you had and every person’s expression as you chatted.
There are also larger life events like getting married, having a baby, moving to another state, the death of a friend or family member that require a lot more contemplation about the bigger meaning of life. These things don’t affect our immediate egos, but our longterm selves. You can’t help but stop and think about “life, the universe and everything,” as Douglas Adams has penned. Those are hefty contemplative moments that stick with you for a long time, causing you to question the reality of reality
If you are going to sit down to have a think, where do you go for your sit down? In today’s busy world, it’s often hard to find a place to contemplate.
Remember that “early man” who I imagined being squatted down rocking back and forth by the fire that I suspect brought about the invention of the rocking chair. Many people have sat in a rocking chair and done a little reflective thinking. I, myself, have evolved to a hammock chair to set the liquid thoughts in my head sloshing around, colliding, and mixing. Other times I resort to a hammock in the backyard, set up so that the mountains east of Santaquin are visible, peaceful, and solid.
Like a lot of people, I find my peace out in nature, whether it’s going for a hike, a fishing trip, or a drive to my favorite spot. I know of a family from a few years back that liked to be out on a mountainside to do their thinking when they were troubled by difficulties in life. Just going up the canyon, parking the car and walking to a special spot where they had worked through things before. All the family members knew where it was. They knew they could find a family member there, or they might go there to do their own thinking. This was before the modern cell phone so they weren’t listening to music, they weren’t distracted by social media, and they weren’t taking calls. They just got away from the noise and sat in quiet peace and they would think about “things.”
At any rate, it feels good to contemplate contemplation and imagine a simpler time in the timeline of human existence that was perhaps devoid of complex thinking and problems. But again, maybe not. Maybe we’ve all just had our things to think and over-think about. Maybe all we’ve ever really needed was a place to sit and rock back and forth while we soothe ourselves with our thoughts of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
