Seeking the sacred in the mundane
As a wife and busy mom of two young children and two pets, life is full. Even during Covid-19 times, after being furloughed at two part-time jobs, life is full. Now, instead of working at the schools where I once taught, in the mornings, I’m home trying to keep my young, active son on task with virtual school. Turning off his camera to summersault on the couch and rough-house with our dog are oh so tempting when I dare leave the room to throw in a load of laundry and load the dishwasher. In the afternoons, I’m driving my daughter to sports practices and games (at one point recently, her two sports overlapped—man, was that fun). Despite Covid, I continue to experience the mad rush to get a healthy dinner on the table.
Sometimes, all of this leaves me craving the peace and solitude that comes with the contemplative life of a monk. Ha, yeah right…right? Do I really want to live the life of a monk? No. Not in the sense of being away from my family at least. I love them, they are everything to me. I love that my son is playful and full of life. I love that my daughter is talented at and enjoys sports. I want to be there to enjoy them and support their well-being. Really what I crave and strive for is the ability to feel peace and presence in the midst of stressful everyday challenges that pull me away from my center. To find the sacred in the mundane. That’s what I’m craving.
I’ve learned that this requires undoing my ability to multi-task so well, something I have taken such pride in over the years. Can I learn to single-task? To be present in each moment and accept what is and find peace in and with whatever I am facing. That sounds nice, doesn’t it? How many times, as I’m working on something, has my son said “Mom, look at me!” I turn my eyes to him, but my mind is still on the task at hand. Instead of multi-tasking in that moment, I’m neither here nor there. Is this how I want to live, being neither here nor there? Buddhist monk and author, Thich Nhat Hanh, says: “The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” A reminder that the best of myself I can give to others is my presence.
I do believe that being present is like a key that opens the door to a sublimated level of experience in life. Embedded within the present moment is gratitude (what stands before me is a gift for which I am thankful). And with gratitude comes its best friend, joy (I let go and allow myself to enjoy this gift that stands before me). And with joy comes the expansion of love in our hearts. In our common humanity, perhaps our life long spiritual lesson is to develop, with practice, the ability to “be” in this love which is the present moment, moment after moment, after moment—even while living in the “mundane” world of virtual school, car rides, and pulling together yet another family meal. Or, is it all really mundane? Perhaps it’s all sacred if we allow our attention to shift to the present moment.
