Forget and Just Be

Living gratefully today, I am enjoying a weather discussion with my husband Darcy over our morning coffee. I am also enjoying the sound of birds and the view of passing clouds through our front window.

The "Word for the Day" at www.gratefulness.org often resonates with me, including this recent one:

"In an age where there is much talk about "being yourself," I reserve to myself 

the right to forget about being myself, since in any case there is very little

chance of my being somebody else." 

(Thomas Merton)

I think I could use some of that forgetting to be myself. I try too hard, do and think too much on a pretty regular basis. If "too" is in front of much, I need to pause and dial down. Forget and just be. 

As I sat here writing, a squirrel came into my view, running across the electrical lines along the road in front of our house. That squirrel was just being a squirrel as it scurried along 20 feet above the ground. 

It reminded me to step back and out of the middle of my busy head and heart. Step back into the present moment and savor it. 

Indeed, I can only be myself. I don't need to practice being myself, I can simply forget and just be.

A bit existential in my writing today, but it helped me. Maybe it will give you something to consider as well.