How to Still the Soul

I'm not sure how, but I'm seeking to figure it out here in this blog while adventuring into my 33rd year and taking 3 months to explore Tuscany.

Just having finished law school and having taken the bar, I'm taking some time to rest, reflect, rejuvenate. And if one can't still the soul in Tuscany it's probably an impossible feat.

I am challenged by the Buddhist Offering for my birthday:
Have the courage to throw yourself into life, take risks, weather blows, knowing before you begin that you will be exposed to a series of opposites; success and failure, happiness and unhappiness, praise and blame. I'm sure it seems strange to feel challenged by taking 3 months to live in Tuscany, and I am not looking for sympathy, but to those of you workaholic friends of mine, who have tried (or dreamed) of taking the time to sit still, look inward, and attempt to quiet the mind, you know what a struggle this might be for me.

I'm starting day 1 of my 33rd year and my new niece, Leah Elizabeth Stodola, is starting her day 2. That's it. Just day 2! Can you imagine? Living your life in days rather than years? How monumental and striking that seems. A friend recently asked me what my 5 year plan was and I had to laugh. How about my plan for the next 3 months, this much I know: Tuscany, book, wine, and not necessarily in this order.

Below is a song I heard today from U2 that made me think of the conversation I am having with myself as I prepare for this sabbatical, especially this part:
I am still enchanted by the light you brought to me
I still listen through your ears, and through your eyes I can see
And you are such a fool
To worry like you do

Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
click here for LINK TO AUDIO

I'm not afraid of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me that I haven't already heard
I'm just trying to find a decent melody
A song that I can sing in my own company

I never thought you were a fool
But darling, look at you
You gotta stand up straight, carry your own weight
These tears are going nowhere, baby

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it

I will not forsake, the colours that you bring
But the nights you filled with fireworks
They left you with nothing
I am still enchanted by the light you brought to me
I still listen through your ears, and through your eyes I can see

And you are such a fool
To worry like you do
I know it's tough, and you can never get enough
Of what you don't really need now... my oh my

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it
Oh love look at you now
You've got yourself stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it

I was unconscious, half asleep
The water is warm till you discover how deep...
I wasn't jumping... for me it was a fall
It's a long way down to nothing at all

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better now
You're stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it

And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if our way should falter
Along the stony pass

And if the night runs over
And if the day won't last
And if your way should falter
Along the stony pass
It's just a moment
This time will pass