Last weekend I was sitting on a friend\u2019s porch in Westmore.\u00a0 There was a small slice of Lake Willoughby visible, and the hills on the other side, there was a wide green lawn, the neighbor\u2019s house, and a lot of trees.\u00a0 The wind was coming from different directions in puffs.\u00a0 There was one warm puff and one chilly one.\u00a0 The rest were pleasantly cool.\u00a0 The branches of trees, pine and spruce and maple, were thrashing all around as though dancing.\u00a0 I watched quite happily for a long while.\u00a0 In the past, I would have had to have something to read, or my journal to write in.\u00a0 My journal was actually at hand, but I didn\u2019t reach for it.\u00a0 This ability to sit still and just enjoy the present moment is so new I still feel surprised by it.\u00a0 I do remember sitting on the beach at Cape Cod, last year, and having the same comfort in just being in the present.\u00a0 So I think it\u2019s an ability that\u2019s been growing gradually as I release the inner tensions in the trauma work.
\nMatthew Fox said \u201cIt\u2019s a spiritual practice to learn to savor daily life.\u201d\u00a0 He quotes Mary Oliver\u2019s rules for living:\u00a0 1) pay attention\u00a0 2) be astonished\u00a0 3) share the awe.\u00a0 Writing this down, I realize that we\u2019re born with the ability to savor daily live, babies and young children savor the moment until it gets trained or beaten out of most of us, at least in Western culture.\u00a0 I think many people in indigenous tribes never lose it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last weekend I was sitting on a friend\u2019s porch in Westmore.\u00a0 There was a small slice of Lake Willoughby visible, and the hills on the other side, there was a wide green lawn, the neighbor\u2019s house, and a lot of … Continue reading