Live with intensity now
I’ve been thinking a lot about daily life, how precious it is, and how little we understand that most of the time. Right up until someone we know has a sudden health issue like a heart attack, or a recurrence of, say, cancer when we’d hoped it was gone for good. For me, there’s a sense of shock, like, Oh, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Which of course is naïve
At the same time, it’s hard for me to keep saying, Yes, let me stay present. Or, in Eckhart Tolle’s phrase, Stay in the now. Nothing wrong with either of the sentiments, they’ve just become stale with repetition. They lost their sparkle. Lately, each morning when I meditate I’ve been looking for a word to focus on. It might be lovingkindness or cherish; the word varies and that freshness helps my concentration.
Recently, a friend called and said, “I wanted to let you know that yesterday I had a stroke.”
I shrieked. Now, it’s all worked out as well as possibly could be hoped for. Her husband whipped her into Emergency immediately and she’s recovering. The rest of that is her story, and his.
What hearing of my very dear friend’s stroke has done is make me stop and ask myself, This cup of tea, am I realizing how delightful it is? And I answer myself, Mm, yes, it is.
Ahh, I’m making pesto. Isn’t that great? I didn’t make any last year. Wow, that garlic is pungent, the foodstuff of champions. Look at the green of the pesto in the food processor; isn’t it wonderful how the bit of lemon juice persuades the basil to keep its colour?
Joy is found in relationship, either the self to a situation which is perceived as fleeting and therefore special, like my enjoyment of making pesto; our interactions with family and friends; or the self in a continuing relationship with the spiritual.
Joy comes from noticing and valuing.
It’s easier to pay attention to change than the everyday. Recently I heard of a nice change that totally got my attention: two people close to me who hadn’t been talking to one another had met several times. It didn’t resolve the situation completely but there were more meetings planned; there was movement, which there hadn’t been before. The morning after I was told this, I woke smiling at five a.m. Moonlight was streaming onto my face. It was perhaps a little early to get up, I thought. I dozed but still with the grateful feeling of flow, of things easing.
Can I keep that sparkliness, appreciation and intensity in the day-to-day? When I heard about my buddy’s stroke, I looked at the world around me and thought, How much am I valuing the autumn sun coming slant through the windows, the tiny bellflowers that have rebloomed with the rains, their purple flowers so rich and valiant in colour I blink? Do my family and friends feel the warmth I have for them? Can I send flowers to someone who gets a new job? Call a friend waiting to hear back about medical tests?
The love I felt for everyone at that moment was immense.
John Lennon said, “Life is what happens when you’re planning other things.”
We none of us see what’s coming, do we? Lennon didn’t, bless his heart. Today, my hope is to not get lost in the brushy thickets of lists and goals. I’d like to stay open to the freshness of rain outside the windows, my lemon ginger tea still warm, the insight I had about one of my characters in my Jorrie 3 novel when I was munching on toast, the happy feel of icepacks on my leg—it’s an Achilles’ tendon issue and I’m getting better.
What small or not-so-small delightful thing do you have going on in your life at the moment?
I simply wanted to say thank you for the beautifully written reminder and for the smile which has appeared on my face. Hugs to you
Sorry, I have to send this comment also. I went back to opening emails and this was the first, somehow very appropriate for here. I have left names and anything personal off. It’s an email to myself and another close friend. The 3 of us have been close for many years since our student days:
Re books on Hope
I finally found my own copy. The book is Hope Matters by Elin Kelsey. It is excellent.
Another good one is The Book of HOPE by Jane Goodall with Douglas Abrams.
And one more, Still Hopeful by Maude Barlow.
Subject: hope books
Here are some titles:
Active Hope by Joanna Macy
Hope _________by (. Tanya, I cannot find our copy right now - what is the title please.
Not the end of the world by Hannah Ritchie ( Just found out about this one - looks really good - based on statistics)
And an interesting book for both of you: Ecological Spirituality