You might have come here to settle,
To quiet,
To find some ease and spaciousness inside.
Inhale deeply.
Exhale.
Turning to the breath can guide us into the present moment,
Into a settling in our center.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
Humans need drama.
So declares communication scholar Kenneth Burke.
That idea was made ever so clear to me as I sat meditating on a dock recently.
It was a cool,
Beautiful morning.
A crisp breeze blew on my skin.
A bright blue sky held the clear and shining light.
It should have been easy for me to settle.
And quiet.
I would close my eyes for a minute or two,
But distracted by the waves of light dancing behind my eyes,
I would soon let them open.
I was rewarded once by seeing an otter swim by.
What did that mean,
I wondered,
And my mind was off and running.
Maybe it was a mystical messenger sent to me right now to tell me the great secret of life.
I chuckled aloud at how absurd my mind could be,
And I heard the man meditating next to me shift.
Whoops,
Sorry.
I closed my eyes.
I breathed.
Soon bored,
My eyes opened.
Now,
A tiny cat lapped water on the shore.
Aww,
Maybe it needed a home.
Oh my God,
I thought to myself,
Would you just settle?
I closed my eyes.
I breathed.
I got bored and my eyes opened.
This time,
I saw a cluster of bubbles.
They were caught in weeds that floated on the surface of the water.
Because of the breeze,
Other bubbles floated toward the cluster.
Suddenly,
I couldn't wait to see which bubbles would come together,
Which ones would float on by.
It was like watching a reality TV show about dating.
Come on,
Hook up,
Get together,
Oh so close.
I closed my eyes.
I breathed.
I opened my eyes.
The cluster now looked like a cat,
And here came a huge bubble,
The biggest one I'd seen.
Will it?
Will it connect?
Yes,
Connection.
The cluster grew,
Shifted,
Changed.
It rode the waves.
It made subtle adjustments.
And you know what?
Whereas I had originally been filled with wonder and delight,
I soon grew bored.
Because that's what minds do.
We get enthralled.
This is the most amazing thing ever.
And before long,
We grow bored.
Oh my God,
This again?
Inhale.
Exhale.
On that dock,
I closed my eyes.
This time,
For as long as the meditation was going to last,
I went in,
Resisting the impulse to open,
To seek,
To get lost in the next drama.
I stopped the storyline.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Humans need drama,
Yes.
But we also need to stop the storyline.
So we can rest.
Quiet.
Still.
Breathe.
Center.
Growing steady in the golden light.
Dancing on the shifting waves.
Before long,
The storyline will start back up.
Hooking us as surely as a hook can go after a fish.
Don't bite.
Drop the storyline.
Stay.
Breathe.
Center.
And live light.
