A nice surprise yesterday: John and I had just walked in the door with Susan, Joerg, and Lukas dropped by. We made some tea and spent the afternoon together. It made me realize that in mainstream American culture, this kind of thing doesn't happen. It can't happen, because all of our time--even our leisure time--is allocated to some pre-planned activity. We sat in the sunny living room listening to Lukas babble, and babbling ourselves about nothing in particular; the cat curled up next to us on the loveseat, looking over now and then as if to say, "Now this is living!" John and I had planned to go to the grocery that afternoon, to shop for food that we didn't really need. It's good that our plans were thwarted: when I looked in the fridge to figure out what we could have for dinner, I realized that with a dash of creativity, we had enough to feed us for another week.
Do. Buy. Buy so that you can do: these are the messages coming to us from every direction. The noise is deafening. And I say, Ya basta! Here's my new-found recipe for muffling the messages of mainstream culture:
- Get out your plans for the day, and let them go. Realize that a sense of "doing" is always fleeting, and only leads to increased overall restlessness.
- Drop by your friends' house unexpectedly. If they don't seem inordinately put out by your spontaneity, stay a while.
- Drink some tea together. It's an age-old ritual. Converse with one another.
- Be present. (Realize that this is the hardest, most valuable thing you will do all day.)
1 comment:
Hey, you have a blog! I love reading your random thoughts and reflections. the good thing about blogs is that they make you articulate...communicate..express. even if they are a bit narcicustic...bad spelling..but i an typing with 1 hand...lukas in the other...no editing..... keep writing...susan
Post a Comment