It is said that if you put your hand into a stream you touch the last of what came before and the first of what is yet to come in the same moment. Every moment of life is that way, though there are times when we can become more keenly aware of this.
Have you moved recently? There comes a moment, after all the planning, and boxing, and packing and masking tape, where it is just you with that empty house, and a heart full of memories, hopes, expectations, or perhaps regrets--emotions that have run their course while others struggle to be born in that time of uncertainty, all in the same moment.
Millions of Americans moved this year, some because they lost their home in this crushing economic downturn, others to look for new jobs, still others moving on after the loss of something more personal--a dream, a chance at love, a future they had embraced with a full heart, but one that failed to bloom and grow. Moving is a unique and special time. It is the making real of these things in a life, bringing thoughts, hopes, and pain into the light of a real circumstance where these inner states can be touched, felt, seen by all. When you move away from a place, or toward another place, you are making an outward acknowledgment of a choice. Moving is a kind of truth telling about your life that is visible, and undeniable. Your family comes to help you, your friends rally to support you, but in the end there is that final lifting and carrying that only you can do. It is yours to take the last of what was there with you in a full heart, and then give it away to that new place, or job, or person that awaits you, letting your life energy flow into the new moments ahead like the water of that stream.
This is the eternal flow of the Tao that Chinese thinkers like Lao Tse have expressed. It is the sublime moment on the cusp, where Yin is ready to flip to its opposite Yang, and the cycle of life begins again--for nature abhores a vacuum. That empty house will soon be full again with new life, and all the things you packed away and consigned to the moving van will soon find their way to another empty house that you will make yours. Then, as you enter the tail of that new Yang energy, the process of rebuilding a home, a new life, begins again, unpacking those boxes into new space, and unburdening your heart as well. If you are fortunate, there will be another open heart waiting for you somewhere across the miles and hours as you travel on, and ready to receive all you have in that full heart, help you unpack it, and find that special place in your new world where it feels and fits just right.
Thoughts like these come from simple mindfulness in times of transition. They soften the sometimes hectic and trying time a move can be, for a person, a family, a company, a nation. What we need now, as a people and as a nation, is this same mindfulness of our situation now, an understanding that these are but trying times of transition and change--not the end of the great nation we have been. Generations before us struggled, built, and also suffered loss and hard times. Our house may seem empty now, with lost homes, jobs, an uncertain future, yet this is but the last of what came before. Be mindful that in this time of change there is also the rest of all that is yet to come--a new sustainable and value centered America that we can build together if we do that last heavy lifting and carry our full hearts forward with resolve and hope.
Do I sound a bit like Barak Obama on election night? Why not. You have to start somewhere, and mindfulness, and right thinking is a good beginning. The rest is yet to come.
Have you moved recently? There comes a moment, after all the planning, and boxing, and packing and masking tape, where it is just you with that empty house, and a heart full of memories, hopes, expectations, or perhaps regrets--emotions that have run their course while others struggle to be born in that time of uncertainty, all in the same moment.
Millions of Americans moved this year, some because they lost their home in this crushing economic downturn, others to look for new jobs, still others moving on after the loss of something more personal--a dream, a chance at love, a future they had embraced with a full heart, but one that failed to bloom and grow. Moving is a unique and special time. It is the making real of these things in a life, bringing thoughts, hopes, and pain into the light of a real circumstance where these inner states can be touched, felt, seen by all. When you move away from a place, or toward another place, you are making an outward acknowledgment of a choice. Moving is a kind of truth telling about your life that is visible, and undeniable. Your family comes to help you, your friends rally to support you, but in the end there is that final lifting and carrying that only you can do. It is yours to take the last of what was there with you in a full heart, and then give it away to that new place, or job, or person that awaits you, letting your life energy flow into the new moments ahead like the water of that stream.
This is the eternal flow of the Tao that Chinese thinkers like Lao Tse have expressed. It is the sublime moment on the cusp, where Yin is ready to flip to its opposite Yang, and the cycle of life begins again--for nature abhores a vacuum. That empty house will soon be full again with new life, and all the things you packed away and consigned to the moving van will soon find their way to another empty house that you will make yours. Then, as you enter the tail of that new Yang energy, the process of rebuilding a home, a new life, begins again, unpacking those boxes into new space, and unburdening your heart as well. If you are fortunate, there will be another open heart waiting for you somewhere across the miles and hours as you travel on, and ready to receive all you have in that full heart, help you unpack it, and find that special place in your new world where it feels and fits just right.
Thoughts like these come from simple mindfulness in times of transition. They soften the sometimes hectic and trying time a move can be, for a person, a family, a company, a nation. What we need now, as a people and as a nation, is this same mindfulness of our situation now, an understanding that these are but trying times of transition and change--not the end of the great nation we have been. Generations before us struggled, built, and also suffered loss and hard times. Our house may seem empty now, with lost homes, jobs, an uncertain future, yet this is but the last of what came before. Be mindful that in this time of change there is also the rest of all that is yet to come--a new sustainable and value centered America that we can build together if we do that last heavy lifting and carry our full hearts forward with resolve and hope.
Do I sound a bit like Barak Obama on election night? Why not. You have to start somewhere, and mindfulness, and right thinking is a good beginning. The rest is yet to come.
