“Refreshing Each Moment to Search for Diversity”

Ponderings of the Spiritual Life Director

Every September since I’ve been in Florida (22 years now), my internal seasonal clock tells me it’s time for autumn. The weather should be cooling down and sweaters should start coming out of the closet; the color on the leaves of the trees should be slightly turning in anticipation for their spectacular show; summertime antics become memories as we settle back into school. The turning of the wheel should be bringing about obvious- and welcome- change. But not here in Florida. Every day, the weather seems to remain the same- oppressively hot, humid, and rainy. It can become mundane, even dreadful, if we let it. That’s when it becomes up to us to refresh each new moment.

 

This past Sunday, we were fortunate to have Daikin Hicks of the Hokori Zen Center come for worship and lead us through chanting, meditation, and a dharma talk. I was inspired by his words that encouraged us to renew and refresh each moment and find the joy in being alive. In doing this, we must remember not to cling to any specific notion of how things should be, as if how things should be is graspable and real. Instead, we need to let life- with all its beauty and diversity- flow through us as we experience the joy of it, let it go with gratitude, and refresh the notion of who we are with each moment. It can be as simple as noticing the diversity within the ecosystem we find ourselves in, even when weather patterns become monotonous. It can be as difficult as considering the different perspectives of others, even when we think we know the right way.

 

Searching for the many ways to love Florida has become a bit of a pastime for me. One author in particular, Barbara Hurd, has helped me find the deep, metaphorical, and at the same time very real, meaning in the swamp. The diversity that exists in this quiet, still, and marginal world awakens us to the possibilities of the creative forces of life that can keep us awake and present in the moment, open to new realities. Reading her poetic thoughts in her book, “Stirring the Mud”, has not only cultivated in me a new appreciation for Florida (although she speaks of northern swamp land), but also an appreciation of diversity and new points of view. I don’t want to cling to “how things are supposed to be”, just because I miss the way things used to change up north. I’m opening myself up to all of the ways in which life exists because in order to truly experience our oneness and our interconnectedness, we must awaken to the diversity.

 

Let me leave you with these words from Barbara Hurd:

The mud of the swamp reminds me of what I daily forget: something is always stirring, nuzzling, and trying to lick us into shape. We are more malleable than we know, more flexible and lithe, still 90 percent water, still pliant enough to be stirred, congealed into something we can only guess at. This notion of our concrete selves- I, you, they- as beings within our rigid armor, it’s all a clumsy, brittle scaffolding. Dunk it into the mud here and see what sloughs off.  I can barely keep my skin on. Something is moving here, quickening; something is patting us all, pressing into our hearts. Will we harden and resist or relax and respond?

Namaste,

Heather