becoming a life artist
Posted by Melanie on Aug 31, 2010 in cultivating peace, mindfulness, sacred threads | 9 commentsThich Nhat Hanh a contemporary Buddhist monk, writes with great elegance of the joy to be found in bringing our awareness to the present moment. He encourages us to be so completely immersed in the task at hand that it becomes to us the most important thing in our life.
In The Miracle of Mindfulness, he writes, “While washing the dishes, you might be thinking about the tea afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea. But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes. When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life. Just as when you’re drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.”
When I look into the lives of spiritually awake people across spiritual traditions, there seems to be a common thread. Each lived or lives deliberately with an appreciation of the uniqueness of each moment, each circumstance, each person.
Each of us can let each moment become a moment of deliberate, conscious living. Each of us can learn, with practice, patience, and perseverance, to greet the Presence of God, of Consciousness, of Spirit, of Shakti and welcome that formless Presence regardless of the form. Each of us can let each moment’s experience become a way of seeking out God’s Presence and increasing our love for that Presence.
Living in such a way, we become the artists of our own life. We can sculpt, paint, and dance our way through each day. We need only to pick up and use the tools at our disposal and one of these tools is the practice of the present moment.
Of course, we cannot shape each circumstances of our lives, though there is debate about that. We can, however, completely shape our response to Life circumstances and embrace the Presence in each unfolding moment. With Grace, we step aside from the thoughts that lead us to believe Grace is somewhere other than the present.
This may seem obvious, ridiculous or perhaps overwhelming. Yet, in practice it becomes sublime and poetic. It may be that searching out the sacred in each day, looking for holiness in a single moment over the course of a single day feels more attainable than the seemingly monumental task of recognizing the sacredness of each and every moment.
However you approach such a practice, the practice is one of slowing down for the moment, by doing one thing at a time. A neighbor of mine once summed this up for me with beautiful simplicity, “when walking, walk.”
The integration of centering practices is a meaningful way of enriching your experience of the Presence in the present. If you are interested in deepening your experience of centering practice, consider investing in my new 21 day audio program - Reclaim Your Life and Learn to Live in Balance.
At one point today I noticed the sky … it’s perfect blueness. I said out loud, “What a magnificent day.” That very moment is still burning wonderfully in my center as I read your entry and comment. Thank you for constantly reminding us of the practice of presence … and helping us do it magnificently.
Very timely post for me, Melanie. Too often I have run from one activity to the next “trying to get things done.” This morning I immersed myself in the experience of mucking my horses’ stalls. I was aware of their movements, the smells, the sounds of them munching and their soft breathing. Felt the coolness of the morning temperature against my skin. Picking up the pitchfork to get another load, moving from one place to the other. What a great, mindful way to enjoy the experience. It didn’t take me any longer to do it, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I’m stopping to have a deep breath and enjoy this moment of connecting with you Melanie through your words and wisdom. Thanks for the reminder to slow down and enjoy each moment.
Sandy
I have always been drawn more to the Celtic than Indian tradition so the quote from THE HOLLOW HILLS by Mary Stewart (the voice of Merlin) has always been one of my favorites: “…it is the small times that come back to me most vividly, the quiet human moments which I should like to live again, rather than the flaming times of power.” In those words I always feel the twilight times of family returning to the fold, laughter, and simple pleasures…the soft ‘wuff’ of a horse sniffing my hair, the feel of my child’s hand in mine, the full moon orange on the first horizon. Thanks for the reminder of the true riches of every present moment, Melanie.
Melanie I so appreciate consistent reminders about staying present. It’s what keeps us grounded. Thank you for writing this.
“Some” might argue that it is the lifelong struggle to do the honorable and noble thing – to live and lead a good life – to get your rewards in the end for striving to lead the virtuous life…
…Which would be the exact opposite of living willy-nilly giving in to each and every desire of the present moment… …to explore and pacify every craving of the now – allowing opportunity to being shame and regret in – and still with the possibility of forever losing virtue and a chance for eternal happiness…
I think “some people” might see the present moment as vice or defect – as opportunity to make non-recoverable mistakes that would shatter an otherwise virtuous life…
(…of course the “otherwise virtuous” is un-obtainable when you think about it… OK – that enough thinking about it…. )
Melanie, You know I LOVE this blog post! One of my biggest motivations to create art is to allow myself the time to slow down so that I have the awareness to choose my responses, etc. One of my favorite “Creativity Workouts” is the Mandala. This is such an ancient practiced, used by almost every civilization ever! I love the circular patterns and designs. Here is an entry from my blog about Mandalas: http://www.creativelyfit.com/?p=1529
Thanks, Melanie.
I find that one way to create spaciousness and take in every part of the day is to expand the time in my calendar BETWEEN events. It has lessened my sense of rushing, true. But it has also allowed “free space” for the unplanned moments to occur and be noticed.
Thanks so much for sharing such wisdom and honesty everyone. William, there’s so much I want to say about the inherent nobility of the human heart, I suppose I need to put that on my to do list and write a blog post about it. So often, it seems to me, we get lost in the doing of life and are way out of balance with the business of ‘being’ in life. My posts about mindfulness are aimed at helping people reset into a more balanced posture. I think that the vices that we find so alluring are all the more alluring when we are out of balance. When in balance, I find that the natural nobility of the heart wins out.
Whitney, thanks so much for the link to your blog post on Mandalas. This is one of the practices that I think can restore balance … mandalasana?