Grateful Host in the Perfect Guesthouse

Where are you? What are you feeling? What is God and/or the Universe presenting you with this year, month, day, moment?   The following poem says all we ever need to know so how can we possibly continue to write knowing the bottom line is already spoken? That’s not the question to ask however.  The real question is, how can we consistently be grateful for our “guests” and enjoy the visit(s)? That too is answered by Rumi, yet we all forget at times and try to “reinvent the wheel”.  Perhaps the better question is this:  Are we simply opening our hearts to others, attempting to entertain and welcome, while striving to be a better host?  Yes, I think that is the Q & A for the day.

THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
 some momentary awareness comes 
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, 
who violently sweep your house
 empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out 
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice, 
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes 
because each has been sent 
as a guide from beyond.

— Jelaluddin Rumi,

translation by Coleman Barks

Fall vs. Falling

All weekend I felt the blues slipping in. I was restless, yet lethargic. I felt the slide into the dark hole starting, wanting to open itself up to me. I resisted, yet I was ever aware that I must avoid the slide. One wrong step and down I’d go.

I doubled my dose of Sam-e this morning, walked my dog a little longer and increased the weights with my arm routine. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough to pull me back from that slippery edge, the one that presents itself each fall as I somehow, someway in the beauty of crisp air and falling leaves manage to feel melancholy and depression while others smile in glee of the brisk and happy accession of new arrivals such as school schedules, new clothes, parties, holidays, sporting lineups & cool weather recipes. I see all that too, but all I FEEL is sadness for the dying leaves, the memory of loved ones and the homeless.

The homeless are gauging how much longer they can stay on the streets before trudging to a dirty cot in a crowded room filled with coughing, snores and smells. I too feel winter showing her edges…sharp, cold edges disguised as a beautiful fall. But I’m not blind. I see she’s there, waiting to cut me down. So I reinforce my shield today. I eat less. I eat healthier. I exercise. I go to work. I keep busy. I clean clutter. I make lists. I prepare.

Most importantly, I write.

Momentum..Despite the Ruffled Feathers and Broken Heart

A little boy died today and I thought about his death and the pain the family must be experiencing and, well, my ramblings about living connected and living wholoctavely, didn’t seem so important anymore. I worked my usual job, but I didn’t write when my time was my own. Instead, I continued to think about death and life and priorities. I let myself slide and lose momentum.

My husband drove by two geese in the road last week. He was awestruck by the dedication they exhibited, standing like statues in the busy road. They ignored all traffic as their flying buddy, their spouse, their brother, who knows what the relationship(s) were exactly, but that of a fellow goose struggling to finish it’s dying breath smooshed against a busy asphalt road after being struck by a vehicle. They stayed loyal and connected to their pal. I was relieved I wasn’t there to witness it for I too saw a seagull vigil once. His feet were planted firmly on the yellow line of I-95. His body was swaying, his feathers were ruffling wildly in the swift breezes as cars sped past at 80 mph. He wavered, but never his eyes. His lifelong sweetheart was dead in the road, flattened beyond hope. He knew it, but he wouldn’t leave. His life was no longer important. He lost his momentum and he stared and he swayed. My heart ached so badly for that one seagull, that when I arrived at my destination, which happened to be a polish festival, of all things, I couldn’t bare to hear the accordions, or smell the kielbasa and kraut. The laughter and colorful dresses and all the gaiety seemed so wrong to me. How could people be celebrating when there’s pain in the world?

There’s a website: http://www.romans322.com/daily-death-rate-statistics.php

This website posts real time deaths in America and the cause of each death: abortion, heart disease, cancer, tobacco, obesity, medical errors, stroke, lower respiratory disease, accident, hospital associated infection, alcohol, alzheimer’s disease, influenza/pneumonia, kidney failure, blood infection, suicide, drunk driving, unintentional poisoning, drug abuse, homicide, prescription drug overdose, murder by gun, texting while driving, pedestrian, drowning, fire related, malnutrition, domestic violence, smoking in bed, falling out of bed, killed by a falling tree, struck by lightning, mass shooting and spontaneous combustion. I am busy writing so I didn’t watch the deaths flash each time they were posted, but in the short time it has taken me to write this post, I have seen suicide flash twice and abortion flash too many times to count. This is enough to ruffle anyone’s feathers and let them slide and lose momentum.

So yes, the little boy died today, along with others, many others in various towns, states, countries and from various causes.  More will die locally and worldwide before I even publish this post, and more will die while I sleep tonight.  Eventually it will be my time to die as well. But for those whose time has not yet come, mourn and grieve and remember those that have left us, but remember to also live and to cherish the memories and to value what you experience and what you know in your heart.

Remember to write and keep your momentum, despite the ruffled feathers and glazed over stare that inevitably haunts us for various reasons in various locations and at various times of our lives.

Scattered

With so much information coming at us with lightening speed…we can only absorb for so long before we become scattered.  We select and choose who to follow, watch, listen or friend….which narrows our sources and then we become trapped in a feed of repeated garbage.  On top of that, “to do” lists are always hovering and sometimes haunting. Yet, unplugging takes you out of the current of humanity. When selling a book or building a business, you have strategies to guide you. But how do you stay focused if you’re at a crossroads in your life and not sure which path you’re going to create for yourself? Retreating far away from everything will give you the solitude to think but will you really know how and where to jump back in again?   If you find yourself getting scattered, chances are you are thinking too big…too far….too much….

Be realistic and stay in the moment and prioritize what needs to happen now…and then do it immediately…then make the next decision and complete that task…when you have the rhythm down and you are successfully completing your tasks without getting scattered or distracted…your thoughts and goals can move beyond now and into later…when later goals are achieved successfully…you are then fully prepared to aim for long term goals without losing momentum in the present. Scatter be gone.