Messages From Carrie
Let it be
April 13th, 2010
Recently I had a bad case of the flu. It was the kind of flu that reminded me that as much as I think of myself in terms of spirit and mind, I am also made of body and bones. This kind of flu can be a sobering realization for those of us who are generally of good health. It is an important reminder to be exceedingly grateful because physical health and wellbeing are not a given. Even the strongest bodies wear out, get sick or catch a bug. So I am grateful for every day that I feel healthy and strong, because in my heart I know it is gift. Taking a moment to rest has also encouraged me to explore the idea of resting in general. There is a fundamental difference between stopping because of a conscious choice to rest and recharge, and stopping because of illness or shear exhaustion.
Our culture celebrates and sometimes even requires an almost perpetual motion of busyness. This "movement to constant movement" seems to be accelerating. There is a very real trend toward frenetic multi tasking and an ever growing inbox of email. There is a growing tendency to fill our minds so full of texting, email, entertainment media and noise of every kind that our inner space and inner life is diminished and squeezed into a smaller and smaller corner of our existence. So this week I resolved to be kind to myself. I resolved to take one step at a time and end each day with a prayer that my friend Richard taught me.
What has been done has been done.
What has not been done has not been done
Let it be.
Richard is a gifted painter who works very diligently and passionately at his art. Yet, with the teaching of this prayer, he helped me into frame into language what I knew deep down in my artist's heart. I believe that goals are important and there is dignity and honor in a job well done with passion and purpose. But, sometimes the most productive and important work we do is to stop, to dream, to look out the window at the sparrows at the bird feeder. My life work is to listen carefully to words as they are spoken to me and not be a million miles away. My real task is not the finished soup, but to enjoy the color and sound of carrots as they are being cut on a smooth wooden board with a good knife. Richard's prayer says, "calm your mind and seek the clarity that only silence can bring" and "There is a time for everything."
Contrary to popular notion, I believe that multi tasking is primarily a mythology. We can only do one thing really well at a time. We can do many things passably, even competently at one time. But the satisfaction that grows out of focus on a task well done and done with presence and purpose will elude us.
There often feels like there is too much to do in one day. But there is too much for any one lifetime. There are more good books then I could ever read. There are more songs that one person could ever create. There are more sorrows in this world than could ever be righted in one lifetime. So I must rest in knowing I will read what I read today. I will write what I write today. I will do what I can to do today to tip the scales of world in just a little bit further toward fairness.
I can give kindness and gratefully accept what kindnesses are given. I can take one step at a time, be aware one moment at a time. I can work passionately and creatively, but then I will pause, reflect, and appreciate each glowing minute of each shimmering day. And then, at the end of the day, I will close my eyes and breath.
What has been done has been done.
What has been done has not been done.
And let it be.
So maybe today you are weary. Perhaps illness or even a difficult emotional situation has left you feeling disconnected or in need of healing. Perhaps you are feeling the persistent nag of unanswered cues of email. What kindness can you give yourself today that will help along the healing process? If you cannot take hours of time to rest, can you take a few moments? Can you resolve to give yourself that long drink of water you've been so thirsty for? Could you get your hands into the dirt if that refreshes you? Could you take a long walk if that clears your mind? Might you lie down in the new grass for just a couple of minutes and smell the springtime. Can you give yourself the simple kindness of a deep long breath inhaled and then exhaled?
And then say
"Let it be"