I’m a couple days behind on the current mindfulness challenge thing most recently put out by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. I’ve been listening to their 10 min talk and guided meditation most days in the parking lot before I go into work. Today’s was about impermanence- and I specifically remember an analogy about someone with a special drinking glass who says “To me, it’s already broken, so each moment I have with it is precious.” Because everything will change- everything will be different… every person we know will pass away also… that makes them precious. It’s morbid- but if we think about how we’re all going to be dead… we’re all already dead… it makes all the moments precious.
In addition to this daily meditation practice, I also decided to re-read a section a day of Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Peace is Every Step”. There’s 70 sections so that will take me through the first 2.5 months of the year. Today, with this combination of the talk about impermanence and the reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, I was specifically thinking about how we’re not going to have Thich Nhat Hanh here with us forever. I thought specifically about his impermanence.
And today is the day he left us.
He had a lesson specifically for me today.
I was thinking about this even more when my daughter asked me to put on the “Fifty Bucks” video. And so I did… I watched all of your faces, you precious, precious beings.
The “Fifty Bucks” video was created by my husband the Christmas after my dad died. He did it because I was going to have a hard time with Christmas that year. It was a virtual surprise party that predates Zoom. It was a massive project that involved hours of work not just from him, but from Leigh Wulff- the magical editor- and over 90 of you lending musical talents, dancing talents, creative talents, comedic talents… there were props and costumes!!!… My family, my friends, friends of Michael’s, friends of friends… my cats… your cats… And watching this tonight six years later, I became very aware of how happy I was to be sharing this particular window of time on the planet with you all.
From TNH’s book “You are here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment”:
“Birth and death are only doors through which we pass, sacred thresholds on our journey. Birth and death are just a game of hide and seek. So laugh with me, hold my hand, let us say goodbye, say goodbye, to meet again soon. We meet today. We will meet again tomorrow. We will meet at the source at every moment. We meet each other in all forms of life.”
Love to you. Thank you for reading what I write. Thank you for being in my video and brightening a time of darkness for me. I’m happy we’re here.
THE BLOG LADY 