I have become aware that I might be a tad too serious about too many things lately, always trying to find the Significance and Meaning in everything that happens. And you thought I meant something else right?! :) So today I’m writing about something humorous - the lighter side of life. And what better place to find it than in the grocery store! I have "enjoyed" - well almost - my grocery store days since I’ve been writing a blog post about them, because it brings me to a place of greater awareness, and gives me perspective, which I see as a good thing. Yet, sometimes I think I’m too engaged in trying to find the meaning, the wisdom in it.
Today was no different. Instead of just being *aware*, as usual I started *looking* for Significance and Meaning as soon as I walked in the door. Yet they were nowhere to be found. It was as if they got lost in the *looking*, in the seeking for them. Like we were playing hide and seek in some kind of existential way. They weren’t really there anyway, but I was looking for them just in case. It’s like what I’ve heard some spiritual teachers say about seeking – as soon as you start seeking for the proverbial “It”, “It” is not to be found. It’s lost to *you* because of the seeking, and the trying. It’s as if life needs a softer gaze to be fully seen – fully experienced – because nothing’s really hidden. “IT” reveals itself in every experience.
Anyway, as I kept watching for S&M to show up the thought occurred to me that maybe there really *isn’t* any significance and meaning to what occurs except for what I project onto it, except for what I *want* to see… hmmm. So I relaxed the mind a bit to not be *looking* for anything. I let go of the *needing* for there to be a wisdom, or meaning in what I was experiencing, and just went on my way, *in* the experience - not trying to make something of it.
When I got to the check out stand the young woman ahead of me (I was old enough to be her mother) had just a handful of items, one of which was a 32 oz container of yogurt. She decided she didn’t need a bag, and hadn’t brought her own. She instead tried to carry her “handful” of 5-6 items. She picked them all up and cradled them in her arms. Just as she got to the end of the check out counter I heard a loud – WHAP. I looked up and saw that the 32oz plastic container of yogurt had hit the floor, hitting straight up on its bottom, forcing the lid off, and yogurt splayed everywhere: hitting the man behind us at the opposite check out stand, as well as the counter, the bagger at the end of the counter, and across much of the floor - oops.
The young woman appeared dumb struck that this could have happened, and stated it had never happened to her before, as she nervously laughed. I just watched as it all unfolded. The clerks scrambled to clean it up – and she tried to help. The man tried to wipe the goopy stuff off his bare legs and clothes – while she apologized profusely, and tried to help him wipe it off. I’m sure he was thinking – I can do it myself lady, thanks anyway. In the middle of all this the girl and I looked at each other and broke into laughter. I mean, it really *was* comical, although nobody else was laughing. The sight of this in my head still makes me laugh out loud.
Whap – splat – yogurt everywhere.
No significance, no meaning really – just pure experience…
Life unfolds before our eyes…
Whap – splat – comic relief… :)
Heart Smiles…
"It was as if they got lost in the *looking*," I love this comment. It seems so true. I do this all the time, trying to assign meaning to just "what is". What I really do know that sometimes things are beyond our understanding. I think it is just another way we try and gain control over our life, by trying to understand. And of course some times there is meaning and something for us to learn. That's the razors' edge of practice, don't you think, being able to step back and see the difference. It sounds like what you are engaged in? Stepping back. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteHi Carole!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's it - the stepping back and just seeing, without trying to place an interpretation on it, which I do all the time. So it seems it was a little lesson in "just seeing" - just being aware and letting it unfold - on a small scale of course, which I need to apply to my larger life issues as well :) I love it when Life presents these little vignettes of Truth! Yes, I have to admit that it does give me a sense of control to find the meaning in things. This is a habit of mine - getting entwined in the mind. It soothes the mind that needs to know those things, the mind that is always searching for an answer or explanation for why things are the way they are... So I too get reminded of these things in my daily life and in the writing about them. Thanks for your comment! Heart Hugs-C