Renew, Reuse, Recycle

My wife's cousin is visiting with his 18 month old son so our house has human beings of the following ages in it.

1.5
6.5
38
42
43
63
87

We also have a 10 year old dog.

One of the wonderful things about watching a toddler interact with the world is that they are experiencing nearly everything for the first time. To say they look at world with a sense of wonder would not really be accurate because they live in a world where everything is new so novelty is not novel. Therefore they don't really go "wow" as much as live in a world where anything can be interesting. Sen (that's the little boy's name) found the squeaky child gate in the kitchen facinating. He loved to move it back and forth and listen to the noise.

It's wonderful to remember that there is the potential for wonder all around all the time. Meditation is simply the practice of focusing the mind on the present moment without prejudice (or new judgements...would that be postjudice?) or following some silent line of thought or fantasy. This is not an easy thing to do - surprisingly hard in fact - but anyone who has been able to do it for even a few seconds knows that it brings a sense of serenity and joy that is remarkable.

One way to capture this on a moment by moment basis is to look at things in a new way. Changing your angle is often enough. Tilt your head to the side or look at things upside down. Get out of the chair and get under the desk for a few moments. Go outside and look straight up or lie down and stare at the grass from just a few inches away.

I'm gonna go do that now.

Bye.