Stories of Transformation through Contemplative Practice:
Joe D'Arrigo of Tuscan Sabbaticals

When I first met this one guy, he was on Prozac and he thought he was going out of business. That was three years ago. Today he understands his values, he keeps a journal, he has - but would never call it - a contemplative life. In fact, when he was in Italy, his comments were that the silence was overwhelming and drove him crazy! [In Tuscany] We stay in 16th century farmhouses. There are no televisions. There are no radios. Nothing of that. He said, "There's too much silence." He wasn't used to it. But still his life today is much different. It's not that he runs to get silence, but he's much more tuned in.

There's a wonderful Franciscan chapel in the middle of [his city] and he'll take a walk over there in the middle of the day. Not every day, but I encourage him to just go over there, for example, right before big meetings. That way, he prays or he contemplates what's about to happen. It's a change in behavior. In fact, I'll give you a quote from him. He said, "I learned that thoughtful quiet time can be beneficial. I've never had reflective time in quantity and found that pondering time alone was beneficial to me." He also said, "A life of quiet solitude would not be great for me. I learned that journal writing has more meaning than it had before. I had journaled on and off for years and found the benefits of hand-writing thought to be helpful for capturing my sentiments and recalling sentiments as well."

So there's an individual who has changed. There was also another quote from him where he said he has learned how to realize there is tension in a situation, which he could never do before. He can now realize when there is tension in his body in a situation, and can step back from it. Which, to me, is a home run. A really high-pressured guy and got a company going to the moon. They will double their business this year. But I work with him in saying, hey, time to take three days and go veg someplace. But now, he can articulate that he understands when there is tension building in his life.