The narrator of one of Alice
Munro’s short stories described a middle aged woman this way: “Here she sat and
saw her day as hurdles got through. Not
much to her credit to go through her life thinking, Well, good, now that’s
over, that’s over. What was she looking forward to, what bonus
was she hoping to get, when this, and this, and this was over?” (Selected Stories, 1997). Sometimes it’s that way for us, I think. We live with the dull ache of low
expectations: just get through the next thing, get it over with, move on to the
next thing, and get it over with, too. Endure today, then tomorrow, and a series of
tomorrows after that. We’re not living our
lives; they’re living us. We might as
well be sleepwalking, because we aren’t awake to ourselves, to others, or to
the wonders and possibilities around us.
Munro’s short stories described a middle aged woman this way: “Here she sat and
saw her day as hurdles got through. Not
much to her credit to go through her life thinking, Well, good, now that’s
over, that’s over. What was she looking forward to, what bonus
was she hoping to get, when this, and this, and this was over?” (Selected Stories, 1997). Sometimes it’s that way for us, I think. We live with the dull ache of low
expectations: just get through the next thing, get it over with, move on to the
next thing, and get it over with, too. Endure today, then tomorrow, and a series of
tomorrows after that. We’re not living our
lives; they’re living us. We might as
well be sleepwalking, because we aren’t awake to ourselves, to others, or to
the wonders and possibilities around us.
It’s not easy staying awake,
though. You know that feeling you have
after Thanksgiving dinner—stuffed, hardly able to keep your eyes open, and wanting
nothing more than a long nap? I think
something like that happens to our minds and hearts. They’re overfilled with all the ideas,
images, issues, and demands which come at us from email, voice mail, text and
Facebook messages, RSS feeds, snail mail, memos, reports, television, radio,
billboards, magazines, newspapers, coworkers, family members, and strangers on
the street. All these things work their
way into our psyches, make claims on our capacity for awareness, and take away
from our limited supply of time and energy.
though. You know that feeling you have
after Thanksgiving dinner—stuffed, hardly able to keep your eyes open, and wanting
nothing more than a long nap? I think
something like that happens to our minds and hearts. They’re overfilled with all the ideas,
images, issues, and demands which come at us from email, voice mail, text and
Facebook messages, RSS feeds, snail mail, memos, reports, television, radio,
billboards, magazines, newspapers, coworkers, family members, and strangers on
the street. All these things work their
way into our psyches, make claims on our capacity for awareness, and take away
from our limited supply of time and energy.
We experience sensory overload.
Our mental hard-drive maxes out. Our emotional inbox gets full. We can’t take-in any more. We start to shut down. People talk to us, but we can’t really
listen. We read, but the words on the
page bounce off our brains. We miss
subtle clues, overlook important details, and fail to see nuance. We’re numb, and drowsy from too much for too
long.
Our mental hard-drive maxes out. Our emotional inbox gets full. We can’t take-in any more. We start to shut down. People talk to us, but we can’t really
listen. We read, but the words on the
page bounce off our brains. We miss
subtle clues, overlook important details, and fail to see nuance. We’re numb, and drowsy from too much for too
long.
That kind of drowsiness puts us
at risk for missing the surprises of grace and serendipities of joy which are
always happening around us. We don’t
have the inner freedom to look beyond, beneath, and above the pressure of the
immediate and the clamor of the urgent.
We lack the interior space for anything new or delightful or peaceful.
at risk for missing the surprises of grace and serendipities of joy which are
always happening around us. We don’t
have the inner freedom to look beyond, beneath, and above the pressure of the
immediate and the clamor of the urgent.
We lack the interior space for anything new or delightful or peaceful.
When it comes to matters of the spirit,
less is often more. Intentional
self-emptying and cultivated silence instead of frenzied consumption of noisy
and insistent media make room for authentic, rather than ersatz, fulfillment. Lingering reflectively over our experience and
not rushing to the next thing is a way to discover the marvels and mysteries
hiding in plain sight. Listening with focus
and love to the people in front of us now, rather than hurrying in our minds to
all the other people we will meet with today, tunes us in to the music of their
lives and to the melodies and harmonies of the Divine which echo in their songs.
less is often more. Intentional
self-emptying and cultivated silence instead of frenzied consumption of noisy
and insistent media make room for authentic, rather than ersatz, fulfillment. Lingering reflectively over our experience and
not rushing to the next thing is a way to discover the marvels and mysteries
hiding in plain sight. Listening with focus
and love to the people in front of us now, rather than hurrying in our minds to
all the other people we will meet with today, tunes us in to the music of their
lives and to the melodies and harmonies of the Divine which echo in their songs.
I know these things are true, but
I forget. When I do, I find myself back in the hypnotizing swirl which wants me
to settle for the numbed passivity induced by too much. I want to remember,
more readily and more often than I do, that taking-in just-enough is a way to stay awake.
It’s a way to live my life
rather than simply to get through it.
I forget. When I do, I find myself back in the hypnotizing swirl which wants me
to settle for the numbed passivity induced by too much. I want to remember,
more readily and more often than I do, that taking-in just-enough is a way to stay awake.
It’s a way to live my life
rather than simply to get through it.
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