The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark. When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go. Let’s rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.
Henry Nouwen, Bread for the Journey
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune–without the words,
And never stops at all,
Emily Dickinson
In recent weeks, thousands of birds were found, having dropped from the sky in Arkansas, USA – causing fear in the town’s residents and puzzlement around the world. When I saw the pictures I was less worried about the apocalyptic warnings of the world’s immanent end and more sad on seeing these beautiful creatures fallen to earth.
It left me wondering why birds are so uplifting to the human spirit. They soar and fly, with an air of lightness and freedom; we too dream about flying. Emily Dickinson’s quotation above links birds to the hope that exists deep within us, in the soul. Dead or dying birds remind us of our disappointments and wasted dreams. And it would seem that, since ancient times, we have seen in birds some sort of link between our earth and the heavens. They represent something that is within us, or greater than us. They lift us up. We want to be light even though many of our days are heavy. We dream of freedom, and spaciousness, even when often we feel constrained. Deep inside we know that part of us is like them – our fragile aspirations and desire for wonder. We too can soar, we can move beyond the constraints of our life or our history. However, learning to fly takes courage: it often means we have to let go.
Birds make great sky-circles
of their freedom.
How do they learn it?
They fall, and falling,
they’re given wings.
Rumi
Peaceful abiding describes the mind as it naturally is… The human mind is by nature joyous, calm, and very clear.
In meditation we aren’t creating a peaceful state—we’re letting our mind be as it is to begin with.
Sakyong Mipham
That’s the magic moment-when we realize that searching outside of ourselves is not the way. At first it dawns on us just a little bit. And it gets clearer over time, as we continue to suffer. See, anything that we search for is going to disappoint us. Because there are no perfect beings, perfect jobs, perfect places to live. So the search ends exactly in one place, which is… disappointment. A good place. If we have any brains at all, it finally dawns on us: ‘I’ve done this before.’ and we begin to see that it isn’t the searching that’s at fault, but something about where we look. And we return more and more to the disappointment, which is always at the center.
The very peace we’ve been searching for so hard lies in recognizing this fact: I’m pinching myself. No one’s doing it to me. So the whole search begins to be abandoned and instead of searching, we begin to to see that practice isn’t a search. Practice is to be with that which motivates the search, which is unease, distress. And this is the turning around.
Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen
A quote from my favourite book of last year on a similar theme to Monday’s post on loneliness.Wisdom begins with clearly seeing the dynamics which operate in the ways that society portrays happiness.
The common myth that is perpetuated in society is that the normal person is happy, balanced and integrated – otherwise there is something wrong with them; maybe they’re mentally unstable. We’re even alarmed by unhappy people. Everyone in the media is smiling and cheerful. The politicians are all smiling, cheerful. confident; funeral homes even make the corpses up to look smiling, cheerful and confident.
Meanwhile however, perhaps you’re not smiling and you don’t feel cheerful and confident. You know you can’t live up to any of the images of the model person. You don’t have the right appearance or status symbols, your performance doesn’t cut it, you’re out of touch with the latest trends, or maybe you are just poor – someone whom society doesn’t want to acknowledge. Unhappiness in Western culture is often treated as a sign of failure. Others think, “They’re not happy, maybe they didn’t do enough. And maybe they’ll want something from me so I’d better steer away from them”
Ajahn Sucitto, Turning the Wheel of Truth
The third step demands a little more thought: Simplify
Today’s world is full of information and complications. Decide what is essential in your life and make space for that by moving away from as many of the unnecessary things as possible. Focus on one thing at a time. Do less. Get rid of clutter. Say no. Reflect on what is “enough” in your life. Deconnect more.
Our life is frittered away by detail… simplify, simplify. Henry David Thoreau
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