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The Constellation Learning Newsletter
May 2006
“Every
new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”
-- From
the song "Closing Time" by Semisonic
 There
is something about May, at least in Canada: a kind of newness,
a brief moment in Mother Nature’s busy schedule where
the world sort of sighs and stops and looks around after shaking
off the after-effects of winter hibernating; a month of warmer
days with a hint of the longer summer evenings soon to follow;
a month of putting away all traces of the cold, replacing
snow shovels for garden hoes and bags of salt for bags of
mulch. It’s a merry month for sure, full of flowers
and graduations and celebrations, endings in the middle of
new beginnings, the paradox of every graduating senior and
the nature of evolution itself: life springing from death.
Last year I
took a walk along a deserted country road. As I went I noticed
many of the magnificent signs of full summer: corn high in
the field, the deep green of summer leaves, the yellow and
orange wild flowers growing up through the patches of pavement
and gravel collecting at the sides of this single lane road.
I  listened
to the wind awaken the marsh grasses near where I stood. Crickets
and frogs seem to speak in response. Suddenly
butterflies appeared. They congregated, hundreds of them,
from seemingly nowhere, all fluttering around the flowers
in front of me. Where had they come from? I felt full up with
gratitude. Surprisingly – since I’m not a poet
– a verse sprang to my mind:
Butterflies begin
Cat-tails start in
All the field’s awash with wind;
Let nature’s dance of life begin.
As I said, I’m not a poet. But the
sentiment is pretty.
A few minutes later, wandering away, I happened
to notice a flattened field mouse in the middle of the road,
curled up in a fetal position, obviously run over by something
much larger and heavier than itself. I stopped and stared
down at this empty shell which had once housed life. Perhaps
it was the full-up-ness of the previous moments with the butterflies,
perhaps it was my compromised emotional system still healing
from the effects of carbon monoxide – whatever the reason,
I stood there and acknowledged that small life and its passing.
And even as the tears formed in my eyes and I felt somewhat
foolish for such a display for so small a reason, there was
something of the juxtaposition of life and death on that walk
on that particular day that struck me to the core. Another
verse came to my mind – how strange! – fully formed:
No one save I shall stop to cry
lament the passing of one so small
flattened now into a ball
no bigger than my palm.
A little mouse far from its house
by chance I stop and with grace sweet
through grief, divinity meet
a moment of holy calm.
It’s been my experience that people
want to avoid the difficulties inherent to life, especially
the passing of it from one form to another. (Does anybody
really embrace downsizing or pink slips?) Buddhists
have a saying: lean into the sharp points. Our human inclination
is to run from the dead mice even as we are drawn to the butterflies.
We revel in spring, but shrink from winter, though the former
would be impossible without the latter. Yet, the grandest
paradox of all is that by actually embracing both –
life and death, good and bad, joy and
sorrow – we find what it is we’ve wanted more
than words can convey or poems predict: a place of holy calm.
Remember that you can not rush the
natural progression of seasons any more than you can rush
your life. As you charge into summer and cottages and children
on vacation and commitments to your colleagues, take time
to notice the newness around you, even as you clear out the
reminders of last year’s now decayed garden helping
to fertilize the one yet to be planted. Take time for a few
moments of holy calm. They can be the connective tissue in
your sanity system.
Application Tips:
- Pay Attention –
give your energy to the good stuff
It’s hard to appreciate what doesn’t even
register. You must train yourself to notice.
Notice the little things, the things you take
for granted: waking up in the morning, breathing, walking,
talking. Start noticing all the ways your world is pretty
darn great. The old adage, “count your blessings”
applies here. The more you notice – every single
day! – the little things, the more big
things will start to happen for you.
-
Acknowledge
– look for ways to appreciate
You may not always appreciate the apparent set-backs
or struggles or what ever pops up in your busy day. After
all, you may be saying to yourself, a country lane walk
is one thing, but in the real world? Come on…who
has time to acknowledge every little thing? Well, we’re
not talking about every little thing we’re talking
about a couple of things, every day.
Just like going to the gym or walking, it’s the
discipline, the consistency that matters. Take time to
acknowledge the little things once you notice them. A
simple silent internal nod is all it takes to boost the
internal experience of your day.
* See
this month’s Recommended Reading
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