Mindfulness

While scooping the cat litter this morning I recalled a discussion I had a few days ago with a friend about 'cleaning up'. We mused how hyperactive, perfection-obsessed personalities can drive themselves bonkers trying to keep their world just so. It's not just a question of keeping things, tidy, clean or in their place, but an issue of making sure to keep up with everything. Every facet of life has it's ends clipped, every discussion is concluded, and every contact is content. Perfect little goals all bundled in a sack. What a joke.

Hence ... CRAZY! I mentioned to my friend that at one particular point in a whirlwind of frenzied activity trying to keep up with my life and the lives of everyone around me, I realized that if I could just let go of a few small things, life wouldn't be so overwhelming. I found that if I left a few dirty dishes in the sink, rather than cleaning every dish the moment it wanders out of the cupboard, not only does my house not become a hovel, but that when I do get to the dishes, I can do them once, quickly, and they're done. My friend decidedly agreed saying that if he could let his mind go of the dish, it would, as if by magic, get done anyway. It just wouldn't get washed by stress.

This is a pretty nifty trick of convincing the universe to do your dishes for you while you're off contemplating something else. But as I dropped cat shit on my feet, and came back to the reality of my litter, I remembered another lesson: to be mindful of what we're doing. Trying to tame the universe of life takes some skill, and it's a wild ride with many destinations. But for one, if we can focus on passages individually the whole voyage can be less overwhelming; and two, if we can take one path at a time, we're much more likely to enjoy the scenery.

This is all very novel of course. The discussion with my friend concluded as well that the truths we learned from our parents, that they learned from theirs and they, through the history of our society, become so much more true as we get older. All the important points, like being mindful, or doing unto others as you would have done unto you, become clearer and more tangible with age and experience. He wisely noted that as young people we don't have the scars to impress upon us how important these vague little notations we're given really are. It isn't until we actually have to suffer through our own existence, that the true commandments of life, the ones we've known since birth, take on shape and a true meaning.

Put that in your mind and poke it!