Here. Now.

“Wassup!” – A friend texted me…

I am in the middle of adding a buffer to my samples…I finish that.

“Nothing much…” – I reply back…

Not true!

Several years back I watched a movie called ‘Peaceful Warrior’ and eventually also read the book ‘Way of the Peaceful Warrior’on which it is based. Dan is taught by Socrates an important lesson…

‘There is never Nothing going on…’

One needs to look carefully…one needs to observe.

A couple of days back, on a day off, I got nothing accomplished honestly. I checked the feed on WordPress to read new blogs, over-ate and slept. But these are the things that were Going On while I thought nothing was…

A friend looks for labs and finds applications to fill for a PhD.

A bee gets trapped inside the house (don’t know how it managed to get in!) and works hard to find an outlet.

The friend finds some labs that he can apply to and discusses the options with me.

My mind toys with the idea of using fruit flies to address a question that I have been thinking about…it tries to work out a solution in the background while I eat my food.

Irritated with the bee and its buzz, I let it out.

The neighbour’s dog barks loud – a Visitor.

Someone in our building locks his door – he’s heading out.

A friend of mine texts me saying she’s got a tuition waiver in a University she’s applied to..and she thanks me for something I helped her with.

(It’s amazing…I feel proud. Honestly, I feel proud of her growth. I feel how a mama bird feels about her younglings when they leave the sheltered warmth of her wings and fly away… Wow…I did sound like an old mama!)

A wound in my little toe splits open (I must have done something for that to happen but I can’t remember what) and bleeds. I yelp. I wash it.

A bird chirps outside my window. It’s evening now. I look out the window at the orange hues, I smile.

I notice a crow sitting perched on a twig. It shits. Shit falls on the head of a woman collecting dried leaves. She looks up. She uses a expletive. The crow flies away. I laugh.

As I lay in bed with sprawled legs and eyes on the ceiling fan, I am aware of everything around and within me.

I could feel an ant crawling up my shin.

I could hear a drop of water drip into a puddle.

I could feel my breathing rhythm slowing down.

I could hear the occasional ruffle of leaves.

I could hear the sound of the fan (which is otherwise part of the background music of life)

I could hear the number of letters being typed on the keyboard.

I could hear the footsteps of someone walking down the stairs.

On a normal day when nothing is going on, I feel aware of the things that are.

A small scene from Peaceful Warrior…

"You're missing out on everything that's going on. 

There's never nothing going on. 

Take out the trash, Dan. 

The trash is anything that is keeping you from the only thing that matters, 

this moment. 

Here. 

Now."

 

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