Creating

Thursday, May 7, 2020

We paused on our walk this morning in Noank to admire this naturally-made birdbath, sitting so still and shiny on the surface of this massive rock beside the road. There’s no way of knowing how many years (centuries?) it took for the forces of nature to chip away at the rock and chisel out a space for water to gather, but now it’s here and holding its water safely for birds and other passers-by to pause and find pleasure in, perhaps a sparrow sipping some refreshment, or an old captivated walker clicking a photo from the road.

When I awoke this morning, I still, for some reason, felt tired, but later, when we stopped on our walk beside this naturally-made pool of water, it occurred to me that the Universe surely never feels tired – and I am part of the Universe. If I looked out at the ocean on a windy day and saw a wave that, for a split second, was smaller than the others, would I say that wave looked “tired”? If I saw the wind blowing strongly at one end of our yard but only softly where I was standing, would that mean the soft breeze was “worn out”? If I was standing beside a river and noticed that the current moved more slowly near some debris, would I say the water in that part of the river was “weary”? The Universe is an ongoing creation, and, at every moment, every part of it, including me, is flowing and blending perfectly with the infinite number of other parts. No part of the universe is ever “wide awake” or “tired”, “good” or “bad”. It just is. When I awoke this morning, I put a label on the situation, an old habit of mine. I called it “tired” when I should have just called it “not wanting to get out of bed”. Some breezes blow softly, and some people don’t jump out of bed in the morning. It’s not bad or good. It’s just the way the universe works.

Surely the Universe that slowly smoothed away a little valley in this rock to make a lovely pool of water is not susceptible to tiredness, and perhaps – could it be true? – neither am I. My thoughts about myself can be tired, yes, but maybe not me, since I am actually an easily rolling wave in the endless ocean called the Universe. Hmmm…something to think about.

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