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Observing the movement of life for clues about my ‘why’ — or — The chair that changed everything

The invitation was to notice

By sajid aliPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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The invitation was to notice how my life ‘moves’ and to look for clues about why I’m here.

Being in the flow of life, being in the river so to speak, movement is constant, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. I’m the one moving, choosing, navigating, starting and stopping. That’s me, identified with the flow itself. Sometimes popping my head above the movement. Rarely stepping back from the moment itself.

This question is like that for me, asking me to step back and look at the movement of my life more objectively. This is a different kind of awareness, a kind that pulls me out of being identified with the experience of movement itself, from conversations, meal times, schedules, into another place that contains the essence of the movement.

In becoming an observer of this movement, there’s a softening and a lightening that happens. Who is doing the moving? And, essential to the question, what clues does this movement give me about why I’m here?

Here’s a little vignette to share where this inquiry took me. Recently, my mother-in-law came to visit. We moved through the morning on a mega shopping adventure, culminating in a visit to a local thrift store to look at a quilt hanging out front that caught her eye. My mother-in-law is a master shopper, the kind that would have made a good career. Instead, she collects things for her grandson throughout the year and gives him piles of ‘finds’ of special occasions.

When she pointed out the chair, I glanced over and continued into the store. Later, when she found me in the back of the store looking at bike helmets, she insisted I try it out and see how comfortable it is. She had remembered my desire to fit another chair into our compact living room. And she had found a chair that would fit.

Looking at this movement objectively for clues about my ‘why’, what comes to me is that a pull, an attraction, opened a choice to move in a certain direction —to the thrift store. And then there was a pull towards the chair that ultimately came home with me. These happened through relationship and connection. It happened as my mother-in-law remembered what I had overlooked in that moment and forgotten.

Movement-through-relationship is a clue to my ‘why’ — that we are here for each other, remembering for one another, as we navigate the currents and eddies of our lives.

The greeting was to see how my life 'moves' and to search for pieces of information about why I'm here.

Being in the progression of life, being in the waterway in a manner of speaking, development is steady, some of the time quick, here and there sluggish. I'm the one moving, picking, exploring, beginning and halting. That is me, related to the actual stream. At times popping my head over the development. Seldom moving away from the actual second.

This inquiry is like that for me, requesting me to equitably venture back and check out at the development from my life more. This is an alternate sort of mindfulness, a sort that hauls me out of being related to the experience of development itself, from discussions, dinner times, plans, into somewhere else that contains the embodiment of the development.

In turning into an onlooker of this development, there's a conditioning and an easing up that occurs. Who is doing the moving? Also, crucial for the inquiry, what pieces of information does this development give me about why I'm here?

Here is a little vignette to share where this request took me. As of late, my mother by marriage dropped by. We traveled through the morning on a uber shopping experience, finishing in a visit to a neighborhood secondhand shop to take a gander at a blanket hanging out front that got her attention. My mother by marriage is an expert customer, the sort that would have made a decent profession. All things considered, she gathers things for her grandson consistently and gives him heaps of 'finds' of exceptional events.

Whenever she called attention to the seat, I looked over and went on into the store. Afterward, when she found me toward the rear of the store taking a gander at bicycle head protectors, she demanded I give it a shot and perceive how agreeable it is. She wanted to squeeze one more seat into our smaller lounge.

humanity
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sajid ali

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