BEST

WORDS LIKE LIGHT

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

         Like most of us, I have been trying to “do my best” for most of my life, but lately I’ve been looking at another way of living – a different sense, you might say, of what doing my best might mean. As I was making a start on this paragraph this morning, I caught sight of some clouds that were shifting their shapes in the sky outside the window by my desk, and it occurred to me that they were the best clouds they could possibly be. They weren’t struggling or striving or working out ways to be the best; they simply were, and always would be, as good as clouds could be. Even if they slipped off into just wispy streams of whiteness, they would be the best possible wispy streams of whiteness. I thought of this as I sat at my computer in my crumpled shirt and wrinkled pants, and it seemed like I was similar to those clouds, and maybe just as marvelous as they always are. Maybe I don’t need to struggle so sincerely to be the best I can be, because perhaps, in a sense, I always am. Maybe my saggy shirt sags in the best ways possible, and maybe the dirt on my pants is perfectly placed and displays the best possible shades of brown. If I can’t seem to think of the finest words for this paragraph, perhaps, like those always perfect clouds, I can confidently come up with words that will shine with their own proper brightness. Maybe the best I can do is simply believe in who I am at this mint-condition moment, and let each word do its own remarkable work.    

NO STRUGGLE 

One day, in one small town, there 
was no struggle. Stillness showed 
its power hour after hour, and all 
behavior was like holiday play. Even 
sorrow was a stream you could float on, 
and disappointment was somehow sweet, 
like lemonade. All actions showed symmetry – 
bumps and stumbles waltzing smoothly 
with successes, and illness lying in 
the arms of health like familiar friends. 
People walked barefoot over difficulties, 
breakfast was served at the dawn of 
any dejection, and fear was serenaded 
like a safe and playful friend. Outsiders
stared and stood in line to visit.