I’m sitting here, still and serene as a willow on a still summer night. I have nowhere to be, for the moment. Nothing to do, no-one to please. The house is quiet, and I am enchanted by the sheer simplicity of it.
We Buddhists have a saying “Precious human birth, free and well-favoured.” This is one of those moments when I am intensely aware of the truth of this. My body is a gift. No, not in a “thank god I have a cute ass and my breasts are still where they were when I was 18” kind of way, but in a “Holy crap isn’t it wonderful to feel what I feel” kind of way.
It’s amazing, really. As a human, I get to sit here and feel how wonderfully soft and supportive the bed is under my butt. My healthy, long legs get to stretch out and feel the caress of my oh-so soft socks around my feet. I feel the weight of my cat, still, soft, yet infused with the gravitas which is her unique personality. Yes, I can feel that in the way she sits on me. She and I share the gentle fluffiness of the down duvet that surrounds us.
The air in here smells slightly of wool. The same wool my delightfully dexterous fingers are making into a scarf for my love. I breathe it in and hold it in my belly, where it resides comfortably, with the satisfied feeling of a belly full of toast, peanut butter and wild cherry jam. Bliss.
There is a light above me. A soft, glowy light that playfully mimics real source of illumination in the room – the forcefully enthusiastic light of the sun bouncing off the windowledge. I have not dressed yet, so the curtains are shut, but the sun will not be denied. It backlights the curtains, throwing joyfully illuminated patterns into the room. It thrusts itself around the edges of the fabric, calling me.
I think about the sun. The sun is the source of all this. Were it not for the sun there would be no warmth, no light, no life. And it pushes on. It lives valiantly, unashamed and strong, moment by moment ,it just IS. I am grateful to the sun for making my small life possible. For making all our lives possible. Too soon I will be caught up in deadlines, in other people’s demands, in running around like a monkey on crack, but for now I just want to sit and revel in this. I want to honour the sun by just BEING. That is it’s lesson. Just to get on and BE.
My dear Mother used to quote Shakespeare. She particularly liked this line from Hamlet: “This above all: to thine own self be true. Then must follow, like the night the day, though canst be false to no man.” The sun knows this, and we do well to remember it, too. As I go through my day, I will hold this in my heart. I will be like the sun: unashamedly true to my own pure nature, living moment to moment in my physical being, getting on with whatever the day brings. I will SHINE.
Hope you shine, too. I’d love to hear about it.
3 Responses
January 6th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Thank you for the beautiful inspiration. The courage to shine in each moment. I will carry this with me today like a precious gift.
Looking forward to more illumination.
Namasté
January 7th, 2009 at 1:44 am
What lovely writing. I could hear the words from your mother as you wrote, and read a talent gifted to you perhaps from your father for the first time. Don’t frown … he was many things - including a good writer - and so are you.
January 11th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
How truely beautiful, keep on writing, this world needs more positive web blogs like this.
Leave a Comment