Simple Gifts

I have the kind of mind that doesn’t stop. If I’m not thinking of what I’m doing at the moment, I’m invariably thinking about what I need to do next and after that and after that. I’m not sure my brain knows how to be quiet. I need to work on this . . . but maybe not today.


So, here’s the story – I am on my way to Yuma, AZ for a business trip. The airport is packed. I am listening to the New York Times podcast. I try to get news anytime I can squeeze it in because I certainly do NOT have time to read a paper! I manage to get all my stuff through the scanner without being stopped for a forgotten shampoo bottle. I fumble getting my boots on because I’m already trying to get the earbuds back in to keep listening to my podcast. must. be. efficient. I have my bags slung over my shoulder and I walk towards the train. I start reading my email while listening to the New York Times (and I wonder why I can’t retain anything). I get a phone call and click the toggle on my ear plugs to answer. I discuss the business trip while responding to emails all the while. I get muscled along into the train. My phone call ends. I click the toggle switch again, expecting some more news about Bush-era tax cuts. Instead, I get Yoyo-ma. This is a song I haven’t heard since I was a child. I don’t even know how this got on my iphone.

Thank you to the technology gods because the cello, the tune, its quietness and simplicity brought me right into the moment. Not into the moment on the train, but to the present moment I am in my head. It brought me to where I AM when you quiet all the busy, busy nonsense. . . .the beauty of pursuing what I love, the simple rightness of it all, the obviousness. I feel like I have “come round right”. In truly pausing to take in the song, to really hear it and feel it, I realize that that “place just right” is not in my head at all. It is warm and glowing in my chest. And, I like it.