Writing moments...early January 2014

Why is it that time seems to be suspended, on a different speed, during what we call the holidays?  It is slower (for me anyway) or, maybe it's that moments come into clearer focus than they usually do.  For the last several holiday times of year, there seems to be a wider space for seeing things better.  I battle with "frantic" more that I'd like to admit and for reasons that I'm sure if I listed them would seem so unnecessary - so neurotic.  But during the holidays...or as I'm saying this year...the time of darkness...I accept what I experience as a gift of being able to see better.  I thought of one of those moments this morning.  It was at the new downtown independent bookstore, which in and of itself is a gift (it is sort of like when the Green Bean opened downtown - a confluence of community minded people gathering and dipping toes into new conversations).  I was there for a book reading by Ann Raper, a former Guilford trustee and now author of "A Quaker Courtship" about letters written between her grandparents.  But the clearest moment was seeing my neighbor and Guilford colleague there.  She lives just a few short blocks away but we never really see each other except for the random yoga class or outing.  We talked and caught up for a few moments and it was like I was getting yet another chance to connect with an interesting, smart, educator/neighbor/friend.  Nothing monumental was discussed, but the discussion was monumental.  The connection was rich.  And now I may have tea with her today, right here in our very neighborhood.  

Why monumental?  Because there are opportunities all around.  I think I see clearly, but my seeing is veiled with my preconceptions, my drive to check off my to do list, and to get to the next place, so much so that I rush past the jewels right in front of me.  And then there are the holidays...time slows down.  No matter your orientation, there is a sense of waiting.  We rush towards commitments, dinners, gifts, travel, and more, but, aren't we all waiting for ...the light?  The literal last days of long darkness and the movement towards more light, longer "days..." new possibilities.  Even though we don't experience actual darkness, and have forgotten/never known it's benefits, we are living in the pattern of the sun.  We sense the darkness increasing, and hope for the trend to shift once again towards light.  This communal experience, perhaps, is the gift of a slower speed.  We hunker down together, we look around, and there we are all.  I see you.  

I relish this "dark" time.  So much in me wants to slow down, nest, hibernate - even though nothing is actually stopping me from doing this at other times of the year. No, that's not really true.  I can't stop contemplating some thoughts on darkness and how we don't really get it anymore - ever.   No time where the "human agenda" fades away...when it used to be nightly.  Maybe that keeps me from finding that habitual quieting of the mind, heart, breath.  And now, it's not communal either.  We have to seek and choose our own "dark" if we dare.  This gift that I get of an extended "work" break in higher education...one where we are all pausing as community for a couple of weeks...is rare and delicious.  With it comes this beautiful chance to live in a slower speed.  A chance to better "see" who is in front of you, and what is around you.  A chance to pay attention to the chatter inside, and then greet it with arms of lovingkindness.  My insides have felt like a pin ball machine with thoughts and lists and shoulds and wants, regrets, joys, fears, questions bouncing randomly off my walls.  It's not pretty and often leaves me panting shallow breaths.  But as the dark quiets the surroundings, and the sun is scarce, there is time to "see" what's bouncing off my internal walls.  With a "lightness" I observe it all, and things actually start to quiet down.  I can see my surroundings.  I can hear the dogs breathing and the heat fan in my house starting and stopping.  The clock ticks and chimes.  There is really a now - not just a regrettable or lost past and an impossible future.  I see me better.  I hope I see you better.