Lately I feel as though I have gotten wrapped up with routine, normalcy, stagnation-nation. Life is at a stand still and I have lost sight what it means to be a free spirit, a go-with-the-flow kind of girl. Where did I slip in betweent the lines? Unfortunately, it happens all to easily.
I have been loving the Buddhist philosopher/author Thich Nhat Hanh for quite some time now. And although I am not Buddhist, I do find myself drawn to their way of life and how they see the world. I usually turn to his work in times when I need advice, motivation or a wake-up call that hits you like a ton of bricks (in a good way... if that is at all possible).
One of my favorite books of his is called You Are Here. It is all about learning how to live in the now and embrace the present moment... something I am trying to work on. Life is too precious. I don't want to let it pass me by. I want to make the most of every moment. I want to rejoice in the sun, the rain and the snow because they are reminders of how good God truly is.
Here is a passage (it's rather long, sorry) that I felt to be particularly enlightening.
"Albert Camus, in his novel The Stranger, used the term "the moment of awareness." When the protagonist of the novel, Meursault, learns he is going to be executed for the murder he has committed, anxiety, fear, and anger are born on him. In despair, he is lying on his prison bed looking at the ceiling when, for the first time, he sees the square of blue sky through the skylight. The sky is so blue- it's the first time in his life that he has gotten deeply in touch with the blue sky. He has already lived for decades without ever really seeing the blue sky. Perhaps he has looked at the sky from time to time, but he has not seen it in a deep way. Now, three days before his death, he is able to touch the blue sky in a deep way. The moment of awareness has manifested.
Meursault decides to live every minute he has left fully and deeply. Here is a prisoner who is practicing deep meditation. He lives his last three days in his cell within that square of blue sky. That is his freedom. On the afternoon of the last day, a Catholic priest comes to Meursault's prison cell to give him the last rites, but Meursault refuses. He doesn't want to waste the few hours left to him talking to the priest, and he doesn't let him come in. He says, 'The priest is living like a dead man. He is not living like me, I am truly alive.'
Maybe we too are living like dead people. We move about life in our own corpse because we are not touching life in depth. We live a kind of artificial life, with lots of plans, lots of worries and anger. Never are we able to establish ourselves in the here and now and live our lives deeply. We have to wake up! We have to make it possible for the moment of awareness to manifest. This is the practice that will save us- this is the revolution."
I need a revolution.
This can be a reminder to us all not to wait until it is too late. We are alive right now, we are breathing and we are healthy.. it is time to live. I can't keep focusing on the future or what tomorrow will bring. Otherwise, I will miss what magical and beautiful things are right in front of me.
