At some point this will be your last spring, last month, last week, last day and last hour. We all hope to live long, healthy lives with the ability to enjoy many Springs but all of us must face the reality that there will be a last snowfall we see or the last Spring bloom we enjoy. There are many in society: philosophers, poets and human potential gurus who urge you to cease the day, live like you are dying, create a bucket list and this often conjures up images of quitting your job, selling everything you own and living in Italy; plump and happy while an Italian grandmother, who insists that you are too skinny, feeds you warm bread with risotto and wine. Maybe that is just me? Big and bold and bodacious is great and grand and can also be a gigantic amount of pressure, because now in addition to paying your bills, raising your children and finishing school, you must also make some grand statement in life. Do not get me wrong, bodacious is fine, but I think there is beauty and grace in learning to live in the space between bodacious and boring; the space where life is sometimes hard, sometimes awesome, sometimes crazy and sometimes calm. And this is the sumtimes of your life - where the kids no longer have nap time, you hate your job, you are facing a health crisis. Where your little one giggles, your boss is away on vacation and you start to feel better. It is easy to embrace life when the activities inspire you, but can you embrace life and inspire whatever activities you are doing?
I look; morning to night I am never done with looking.
Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
As though with your arms open.~ Mary Oliver
Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around
As though with your arms open.~ Mary Oliver
AT FIRST VISION
If you knew this was your last spring, what would you do? I wonder if you could practice first vision? This is what people talk about as one of the many gifts that come from spending time around children - first vision, the world is new and each step, word, outing is an exploration of wonders long forgotten and beauty overlooked. This does not have to be exhaustively overdone and it is not even about loving or admiring everything, but instead seeing it all as it is and seeing your place in it. One way to do this is to imagine you have been transported to a different planet, where everything you have ever know is gone or different - who and what would you miss? What would you want to tell your new friends about? How would you describe Spring to them?
If you knew this was your last spring, what would you do? I wonder if you could practice first vision? This is what people talk about as one of the many gifts that come from spending time around children - first vision, the world is new and each step, word, outing is an exploration of wonders long forgotten and beauty overlooked. This does not have to be exhaustively overdone and it is not even about loving or admiring everything, but instead seeing it all as it is and seeing your place in it. One way to do this is to imagine you have been transported to a different planet, where everything you have ever know is gone or different - who and what would you miss? What would you want to tell your new friends about? How would you describe Spring to them?
“Glance into the world just as though time were gone: and everything crooked will become straight to you.” ~ Fredrich Nietzsche
If you looked around today and you knew you were heading to this foreign land what would you stop to enjoy? Who would you share your time with? What would you take a picture of? What would you savor? If you knew this was your last Spring, could you be bold enough to stop trying to fix your life, and instead live your life? There will never be a complete absence of strife or stress, all things are in a continual ebb and flow, but it is the practice of first vision that can keep you in the moment.
I would love to hear what you will see again for the first time.
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