Be Here Now: a quilt I made around 2000
Bob Schieffer, host of Face the Nation, the show I don’t watch that follows the one I do, Sunday Morning, called this the ‘week from hell and back’ for out nation. “Yes,” I thought, “another reminder that the universe is so much bigger, so much more complex, than my own little world here on the farm. The week before I was thinking I was in hell, my own private little hell. It seemed overwhelming at the time.
I realize now that I was in a self-imposed bubble, closing my eyes, my ears and my soul to the world beyond. All it takes is something to put life in perspective to pop that self-centered bubble. Maybe it wasn’t a bubble at all, but an insulating, protective layer I created to shield myself from the stress and repeated setbacks of the week. Yes, I think that’s what happened.
The problem is that creating that layer adds weight. It constricts your heart and soul. You think you’re protecting but you are actually closing down. I don’t want that. I want to be open. Being present in the moment is being open. The secret is to let the bad moments wash over you. – to let them go. Holding on to them is what creates the stress and unhappiness. Hold on to enough of them and you’re squashed by the weight.
This morning, while I was watching/listening to Sunday Morning, I was showering, dressing and curling my hair. I caught myself thinking, “I have to hurry, to get on with the important stuff of the day..(and then quickly)…Ha, I’m not in present time am I?” This stuff IS my day, and this IS just as important to me or I wouldn’t be doing it. I must learn not to dismiss the caretaking of my body, the simple daily tasks and routines that I (we all) go through. These mundane doings ARE our lives.
If I have learned anything this month, it is that the important gets done, not necessarily on my planned schedule, but in it’s own good time. I have learned that the everyday stuff is as important as the big stuff. What seems to be trivial is what keeps the machine of me going. The daily routine of family that often goes unnoticed is, in reality, what I live for. What else could possibly be important if they are not here to turn to in good times and in bad? Knowing they are there, they are safe, healthy and happy is the most important stuff of my day.
The beauty is that knowing this allows me to turn my attention to the other things that fuel me: my art, my writing, my teaching and coaching. I now realize that without the presence of first important stuff, I cannot create the other things that are also important to me.
– – – – –
This
Makes
Me
Happy. I love you.