This is a meditation garden I drive by almost every day. No one is ever there. On that rare occasion when I walk past, it remains free of “peoples”. When passing on my road bike? Same. I find myself meditating on that…but not there. I am miles away.
The one place, by design, asking me to do one specific, focused thing: “think”…and I drive right by; Only to do that exact specific, focused, thinking thing – about that one specifically designed place – at ANOTHER place. That defines irony.
A lot of mental jumping jacks and hoopla-verbiage in that-there paragraph to make a point. We don’t just complicate our lives, we over-complicate our lives. Run here. Run there … and don’t stop anymore to think. To just meditate.
I’m writing this after a day that started at 6:00 and didn’t stop until 6:00 this evening. Non-stop activity. Literally. Teaching, selling, moving, shopping, planning, etc…that’s today. An EASY day by my standards. Tomorrow is full. This weekend is busy…The month is filling up. On and on. And. On. Seemingly year after year…
🙋🏻♂️Guilty.
I choose this for myself. My decision – just like my decision, day after day, to not stop and sit in the meditation garden.
We are ultimately responsible for where we choose to not sit. Why we choose to not meditate, not think about our life choices, not act in accordance, possibly, with our purpose sometimes.
What designed gardens did we see and pass up because they were too inconvenient at the time? What person did we not talk to for a few minutes because of our hurried-ness? What friend needed us … and we just …. couldn’t … find the time?
Look, I’m just a simple guy who likes to be very busy with my music, dawgs, and writing. Simple as that. Give me 24 hours and I’ll fill them up quicker than you can say, “Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in again!”.
I don’t have any answers. Our world is so different. So active. So connected. So alive. So engaging. It really is hard to not want to be a part of everything going on. In the enticement of the chase, however, the prize fades. By not paying closer attention to simple thinking, we may get to the end still wanting more complicated things. At that point, what’s left? Nothing. Again, ironic. Out of place and time … thinking.
Maybe that’s the message in the garden? I probably won’t know unless I take the time to sit my active cheeks down on the unwell-worn slats on the bench in the garden. A few minutes there … not here …. thinking upon these things may lighten the load a bit.
For now, if you see me there as you pass by…join me. We’ll chat. It’ll be nice to be with a friend for a few minutes. We can talk dinosaurs, chocolate, Chopin, quadratic equations, the downside of quantitative easing, pottery, diesel engines (yeah, right..like I know anything about these🤔), anatomy, ….. or, we can simply watch birds poop on expensive cars. Your call. Anything to break up the busy-ness of life. We’ll meditate on the simpler things in life.
Let’s meet. An unscheduled rendezvous of sorts. Allegheny and Union. Hollidaysburg, Pa. Bring bug spray – they have no brains and they’re annoying.
DougHugs 