What Appointment Were you Born to Keep?

“The heart knows things the head knows nothing of…” a friend once quoted to me. Some door cracked open when she said that. Permission somehow to trust my heart. To lean on the sort of wisdom that is inarticulate, vague, unclear yet has an indisputable authority. A deep yearning may be more reliable than a list of pros and cons. My tears may know something I don’t yet understand. I am amazed to see my body’s wisdom when I allow it to dance.

I want to trust hunches, stray thoughts, dreams, random images. I love the wisdom of my left hand that always says; ”slow down. Give up perfection.” The other day I was eating frozen chocolate chips out of the bag -- and feeling vaguely guilty about that. When I got to thinking that wisdom sometimes hides – even in frozen chocolate chips. Maybe they hold a message about wanting more sweetness in life. And maybe that wisdom is not something to feel guilty about, but to deeply pay attention to.

Most of us are better at making 5 year plans, setting goals, making sure we color in the lines and doing what we think we SHOULD – than we are at trusting our heart, our soul, our instinct, or “the supreme teacher than dwells in the cave of our own heart” as my yoga teacher used to call it. We are not so much in danger of not achieving as in not hearing the invitation of a bird.

The Appointment – Mark Nepo

What if, on the first sunny day,

on your way to work, a colorful bird

sweeps in front of you down a

street you’ve never heard of.

You might pause and smile,

a sweet beginning to your day.

Or you might step into that street

and realize there are many ways to work.

You might sense the bird knows some-

thing you don’t and wander after.

You might hesitate when the bird

turns down an alley. For now

there is a tension: Is what the

bird knows worth being late?

You might go another block or two,

thinking you can have it both ways.

But soon you arrive at the edge

of all your plans.

The bird circles back for you

and you must decide which

appointment you were

born to keep.

How to find time

In our old lives, most of us were very busy – too busy. Everyone I know needs more time. And, oddly enough, it’s still true even in Corona virus time where our activities have been seriously curtailed. Some of us ( read ME) are still “too busy”.

I’ve just been thoroughly enjoying a little book by Rob Walker titled; “The Art of Noticing;”131 ways to spark creativity, find inspiration, and discover joy in the everyday.”

In this book Walker has one exercise that is designed to give you more time! I’m a sucker for ideas like that! The way to find more time, he says is paradoxically, by donating time to someone else. He reports a study where half of the group was given the instruction to spend time on themselves. The other half was instructed to spend an equal amount of time on someone else. At the end of the study, people were asked how whatever they had done impacted their feelings of “not having enough time”. Oddly enough, the group who spent time doing something for someone else reported they felt they had more time than the ones who spent time on themselves. He speculates the reasons for this which I won’t go into here. But, I am going to leave you with the suggestion of giving it a try. Let’s see if it’s true for us. See if you can think of someone to whom you could give some time to in the next week. Then do it and report back if/how it expanded your own sense of having “more time”. If so, why? If not, why?

My guess is that doing something that we enjoy for someone else that we really like will somehow increase our sense of well-being. If we do it out of gritted teeth duty, likely it won’t help us with our sense of being overburdened. I find it a fascinating challenge. So, this mission, should you accept it, will expire in one week! Walk someone’s dog for them. Help someone clean out their garage. Write letters to 5 friends. Make a cake for your neighbor. Take someone’s “Goodwill pile” to the goodwill for them. Let us know how it went!

VOTE!!!!

I assume you have already voted and reminded all your neighbors and your dog to vote too. I want to share this wonderful poem by retired UU minister, Rev. Mark Belletini about voting. Keep casting yourvote!

Election Promises – by Mark Belletini

I hear the polls

are going to be open on Tuesday.

All day.

Good. I certainly intend to go to them. I certainly invite you to go to them and vote too.

But today I say the polls

Are not just open on Tuesday.

I say they are open every day.

Every hour. Even here. Even now.

‘Right now I am going to vote

for the robin’s egg sky,

the vanilla clouds,

the purple shadow spreading

under the gingko tree,

I am going to vote for tulips and redbuds,

I am going to vote for love,

That doesn’t have to run in someone else’s circles

in order to be love.

I’m going to vote the homeless into homes.

I’m going to vote the uneducated into classrooms

that teach them in the way they learn best,

not the way that would be most convenient.

I’m going to vote the sick into healing.

I’m going to vote the lost into belonging.

I’m going to vote, right now,

for the right to dream of a world

where the word politics

doesn’t stop me in my tracks,,

And where the word honor still

has a few good meanings left.

I’m going to vote right now

for the power of free people

to actually be free,

No matter who they are,

no matter who has abandoned them,

no matter who hates them.

I actually am going to vote for love,

I am going to vote for truthfulness as the norm,

not the exception.

I’m going to vote for a world

that doesn’t vote for killing, control and swagger,

I’m going to vote for you.

I’m going to vote for me.

Right now. Right here. Silently. But for real.