This ramble came out of a conversation with fellow
sculptor and philosopher Mark Hargarten last May. I felt moved to put my thoughts down. Here they are.
The idea or sensation of “enough” is the axle of
contentment. It signals fullness,
satiation, satisfaction or completion.
When I have had enough, I can relax and throttle back on striving. I can bask in the richness of living. I can effortlessly absorb the wonders of my
world. When I sense that I have enough
of anything, I can shift my focus to the fine texture of experience. I can pay attention to now.
The sense of “enough” is a product of self-knowledge. Through experience, I can get a clear idea of
how much of anything it takes to make me happy, whether it is air, food, water,
shelter, clothing, sex, security, fellowship, money, power, knowledge, novelty,
adventure or automobiles. Each of us has
a satisfaction profile that is as unique as our fingerprints. We come wired that way.
No satisfaction profile is better than any other. It is our individual recipe for
contentment. It can be a road map to
guide us through our life choices. If we
have an idea of where we’re going, we have a better chance of getting there.
We all come here to life on Earth to bring a fresh flavor
to the mix. No one else can bring our
flavor for us. When we grow into the unique
kind of creature that we were born to be, we have done a big part of our job,
our special flavor is being delivered.
That feeling of “enough” is a green light that tells us
that we are on the right path. It tells
us that we should keep doing what we are doing or to keep not doing what we are
not doing. It tells us that we should be
paying attention to the subtler parts of our adventure. It tells us to proceed.
While we humans never stop desiring, nor should we, it is
possible to reach that easy place where the exhilarating rush of desires, like
the gentle rocking of a boat, adds zest to living without swamping it. It is possible to find our balance and to
glory in it.
This whole ramble is about externals, the stuff of ego. I
see that inner peace is never far away. I just need to get quiet, breathe and
be here now.
No comments:
Post a Comment