Hi Folks,
One of my favorite lyrists is Bob Dylan. In one of his songs he sings that “he not busy being born is busy dying.”
Am I being born? Are you?
It seems that we can’t tread water for too long, but we have to make choices that move us ahead or leave us behind.
These are some of the ways I am trying to use these difficult times to be born rather than die:
I have been going on daily going walks. Yesterday I walked 4 miles, the longest I have done since my back surgery. It felt great!
I try to be aware of my breath and take deep breaths whenever possible. That is a mindfulness practice.
I am watching very little news.
I am coming back to the present moment, over and over.
I am giving my wife bear hugs.
I am trying to lose more weight.
What are you doing to use this time to be “busy being born?” Life is often difficult and any habits you develop now to deal with such times will help you live with more authenticity for the rest of your lives.
It helps to remember that we have two lives, inner and outer. It is essential that we do not let just the outer world control our lives. Another lyrists I love, Robert Hunter, wrote: There comes a time when a blind man takes your arm and says, “don’t you see?’” Where are we blind? How can we let others to help us see?
The poet Mary Oliver wrote: “It must be a great disappointment
to God if we are not dazzled at least ten
times a day.”
I have to work at being dazzled. It is a practice. I have to take time to enjoy the beauty of the Del Monte Forest, where I live. I have to look up at the moon and stars. I have to really see the face of my wife. I have to enjoy the sensation of drinking something cold. I have to read poetry. I have to write in my journal. I have to notice the sun shining bright and to feel the breeze on my face. I have to seek out whatever it is that brings radical amazement into my life, a real sense of wonder.
What can you do to join me in being born rather than in dying? How can you help dazzle yourself?
To Being Dazzled!
Apophat