Tuesday, September 18, 2012

To Watch the Wind

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
                                                                 --Lao Tzu

Sometimes there are days so filled with obligations,
there is little time for anything else but tending them.
On those days, I often find myself wishing that I could just stop everything: 
the plans, the demands and activities of the day,
the planning for tomorrow, for next week, and for a month from now.
And if I could stop it all for a moment, I would sit.
I would feel the warmth of the afternoon sun on my face.
I would listen to the birds sing and 
watch the wind blow through the grass.
And I would stay there until the evening shadows fell around me.
~
Most western cultures are ageric
meaning they value ceaseless productivity and action.
In these cultures, just spending one's time sitting is considered slothful.
But in non-ageric cultures, sitting is a respected pastime.
The value of just sitting as the moments slip away is understood.
~
And as the autumnal equinox approaches, 
it seems to me that if seasons were cultures, 
spring and summer would be ageric 
and fall and winter would be non-ageric.
In autumn the striving of summer ceases, 
and everything begins its rest.
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