Have you ever looked at a window during a dousing rain? Do you look at the raindrops pouring down the glass or do you look past it and focus on what is on the other side?
I am not going to lead you to believe that either is right or wrong. Of course, one could argue that by being near-sighted, you miss the bigger picture and that by being far-sighted you miss the obvious details. And they would both be valid points of view. I am, however, going to encourage you to be curious enough to acknowledge how you first react. What is your default emotion, what is the narrative that plays first in your mind, what is the first physical sensation you get? Start there. Start the next time something pops up in your world that makes you know you are alive, and I mean even when that something is awful or tragic.
The term “humdrum” is often used to talk about what happens in between life events. Theodore Ryken, the founder of the Xaverian brothers, a cobbler by trade, called this the “common, unspectacular flow of everyday life”. John Lennon said, “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. Although we are always alive, there are those moments that stir up something in us that makes us think, regroup, settle down, rise up, sit up and take notice of the present moment. We feel our hearts beating, our palms sweat, our imagination run wild with abandon. Those moments are when we feel in touch with ourselves even if it is terrifying or delightful.
Be curious enough to question yourself. That’s enough to start.
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