Excerpt: A trip to… Nowhere? Who would want to go there? According to Pico Iyer, we all should. Read our quotes from The Art of Stillness for more!
Introduction: Traveling to “Nowhere”
In his book, The Art of Stillness, Pico Iyer writes about an unconventional approach to adventure that involves, not traveling to New Orleans or Hawaii, but to “Nowhere.” And yes, that’s exactly what he means.
Rather than taking the time to venture off to far and distant lands, he makes an argument for the opposite—adventuring to nowhere in particular and taking that time to turn inward. This idea may not be what people want to hear—after all, who would want to give up the idea of going to Hawaii… to go Nowhere? But, when you look a little closer at the dynamics of far and distant travel, the notion of “Nowhere” may begin to make more sense.
The idea behind “Nowhere” is a simple one at heart. Rather than travel to far and distant lands, Pico is encouraging the reader to travel to the far and distant lands within. “If your car is broken,” Pico explains, “you don’t try to find ways to repaint its chassis.”
You, of course, need to fix what’s wrong with its internal workings. Painting it isn’t going to fix it—it’s simply going to make it extrinsically more pretty. And that, Pico warns, is one of the problems with constant and never ending movement in our lives. Most of our problems (and therefore our solutions, our peace of mind) lie within.
By constantly painting for our eyes new sights and wonders, we certainly might feel glimmers of inspiration and awe. But, until we actually put the car up on the lift or “pop the hood” and get down and dirty with the inner-workings, we won’t be able to diagnose and fix what any of the underlying issues are.
The same is true for our inner-workings. Think about this according to your own experiences. When did the magic of an adventure or the inspiration from travel really sink in? Was it right then and there in the heat of the moment? Or was it after the fact, once you were settled, still, and reflecting back on the experience? For me, insight always manifests during moments of stillness.
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Your Ticket to “Nowhere”
You don’t need to take your car to a far and distant mechanic on a special, exotic island for it to get fixed. The mechanic down the street from you will do just fine. But, the inner workings of your car will remain the same for as long as you delay and leave it unattended.
You can keep painting and painting away, but eventually, you’ll have to deal with what’s under the hood—it can only be ignored for so long. Best to deal with it while it’s small than to deal with it when it gets progressively bigger (because it will); best to deal with it before it breaks down.
So, here’s your ticket. This is your invitation. Venture to Nowhere in particular and get to it. And if you’re not yet fully convinced, I’ll turn it over to Pico to share with you some of his insights from his book, The Art of Stillness.
Below, you will find our list of 13 quotes from The Art of Stillness that will have you turning within and thinking about your next trip to… Nowhere. The paint can wait until later.
Right now, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and take a look at what’s under the hood. This way, when you decide it’s time to venture to far and distant lands, your car will be ready—YOU will be ready. Good luck.
The List: 13 Pico Iyer Quotes from The Art of Stillness to Inspire Your Next Trip to… Nowhere?
“With machines coming to seem part of our nervous systems, while increasing their speed every season, we’ve lost our Sundays, our weekends, our nights off – our holy days, as some would have it; our bosses, junk mailers, our parents can find us wherever we are, at any time of day or night. More and more of us feel like emergency-room physicians, permanently on call, required to heal ourselves but unable to find the prescription for all the clutter on our desk.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating that going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still. You can go on vacation to Hawaii or New Orleans three months from now, and you’ll have a tremendous time, I’m sure. But if you want to come back feeling new – alive and full of fresh hope and in love with the world – I think the place to visit may be Nowhere.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“The idea behind Nowhere – choosing to sit still long enough to turn inward – is at heart a simple one. If your car is broken, you don’t try to find ways to repaint its chassis; most of our problems – and therefore our solutions, our peace of mind – lie within. To hurry around trying to find happiness outside ourselves make about as much sense as the comical figure in the Islamic parable who, having lost a key in his living room, goes out into the street to look for it because there’s more light there.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“Going nowhere, isn’t about turning your back on the world; it’s about stepping away now and then so that you can see the world more clearly and love it more deeply.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“Making a living and making a life sometimes point in opposite directions.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“When friends ask me for suggestions about where to go on vacation, I’ll sometimes ask if they want to try Nowhere, especially if they don’t want to have to deal with visas and injections and long lines at the airport. One of the beauties of Nowhere is that you never know where you’ll end up when you head in its direction, and though the horizon is unlimited, you may have very little sense of what you’ll see along the way. The deeper blessing is that it can get you as wide-awake, exhilarated, and pumping-hearted as when you are in love.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“So much of our lives takes place in our heads – in memory or imagination, in speculation or interpretation – that sometimes I feel that I can best change my life by changing the way I look at it. As America’s wisest psychologist, William James, reminded us, ‘The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.’ It’s the perspective we choose – not the places we visit – that ultimately tells us where we stand. Every time I take a trip, the experience acquires meaning and grows deeper only after I get back home and, sitting still, begin to convert the sights I’ve seen into lasting insights.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“It’s only by taking myself away from clutter and distraction that I can begin to hear something out of earshot and recall that listening is much more invigorating than giving voice to all the thoughts and prejudices that anyway keep me company twenty-four hours a day. And it’s only by going nowhere – by sitting still or letting my mind relax – that I find that the thoughts that come to me unbidden are far fresher and more imaginative than the ones I consciously seek out. Setting an auto-response on my e-mail, turning off the TV when I’m on the treadmill, trying to find a quiet place in the midst of a crowded day (or city) – all quickly open up an unsuspected space.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“Writers, of course, are obliged by our professions to spend much of our time going nowhere. Our creations come not when we’re out in the world, gathering impressions, but when we’re sitting still turning those impressions into sentences. Our job, you could say, is to turn, through stillness, a life of movement into art. Sitting still is our workplace, sometimes our battlefield.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“Not many years ago, it was access to information and movement that seemed our greatest luxury; nowadays it’s often freedom from information, the chance to sit still, that feels like the ultimate prize. Stillness is not just an indulgence for those with enough resources – it’s a necessity for anyone who wishes to gather less visible resources. Going nowhere is not about austerity so much as about coming closer to one’s senses.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“It takes courage, of course, to step out of the fray, as it takes courage to do anything that’s necessary, whether tending to a loved one on her deathbed or turning away from that sugarcoated doughnut. And with billions of our global neighbors in crying need, with so much in every life that has to be done, it can sound selfish to take a break or go off to a quiet place. But as soon as you do sit still, you find that it actually brings you closer to others, in both understanding and sympathy. As the meditative video artist Bill Viola notes, it’s the man who steps away from the world whose sleeve is wet with tears for it.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“Sitting still with his aged Japanese friend, sipping Courvoisier, and listening to the crickets deep into the night, was the closest he’d come to finding lasting happiness, the kind that doesn’t change even when life throws up one of its regular challenges and disruptions.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
“Heaven is the place where you think of nowhere else.”
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
Picture Quotes from The Art of Stillness to Share:
If you enjoyed this list of quotes from The Art of Stillness then you should definitely check out the book in full. In comes warmly recommended:
Book Overview: Why might a lifelong traveler like Pico Iyer, who has journeyed from Easter Island to Ethiopia, Cuba to Kathmandu, think that sitting quietly in a room might be the ultimate adventure? Because in our madly accelerating world, our lives are crowded, chaotic and noisy. There’s never been a greater need to slow down, tune out and give ourselves permission to be still.
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Written by Matt Hogan
Founder of MoveMe Quotes. On a mission to help busy people do inner work—for better mental health; for healing; for personal growth. Find me on Twitter / IG / Medium. I also share daily insights here. 🌱
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