The Growing Tree: The Importance of Connecting with Space

So, I have to laugh at myself, yet again, for, although I have lots of space/time in my life, I always seem to fill it with fun, relaxing, or spiritual activities, like yoga, meditation, and writing, and suddenly, my life doesn't feel so spacious anymore.  Then I hear myself frequently saying to others "I just need more space!" and then I have to ask myself, just what is space anyway? If I had more space in my life, what would it look like? Would it be literal, like a bigger house or a bigger living room? Would it be mental, like more space in my head? And even if I had more space, whatever that looks like, what would stop me from filling it with clutter, both mentally and physically?

So, practically speaking, why would we want more space anyway? Why not cram our day, our minds, our houses, our lives full of more stuff, more clutter: more things to do, more things to eat, more things to read, more things to clean, more toys and gadgets and movies and friends and information and furniture, fashion magazines here, cookbooks there, swimming lessons over here, laundry and ironing over there – why not have our lives as full as this sentence?

Because, like trees, all things need space to grow, need space to deal with change, need space to deal with the unexpected. Just as trees need room to spread their branches and move with the ever-changing winds and unpredictable weather conditions, so do we. If there's literally no room in our lives, then dealing with that unexpected phone call, that unexpected sewer problem, that unexpected death will be very stressful, indeed.

Let's start with the first question: what is space? Just as the space of outer space is necessary to hold the matter of the universe, the planets, the stars, and so forth, space is necessary for anything to be at all; it is the intelligent, place holder that gives all of existence an opportunity to arise and manifest as it is, whether it be a large, green sofa or a brilliant epiphany. If you've got a small living room filled with old newspapers and out-dated encyclopedias, a room with no space at all, then there literally isn't any space for a large, green sofa.

Likewise, if you've got a small mind full of all the content of all those old newspapers and outdated encyclopedias, as well as worries and to-do lists, a mind with no space at all, then there isn't any space for a brilliant epiphany to arise.

So as far as I can tell, space is both literal, physical space, as well as emotional, mental space. And as you might imagine, the two have a positive relationship: that more physical space facilitates more mental space and more mental space inspires one to connect with more physical space.

So how do we do it, how do we connect with space? As we have seen, space is always there; we don't need to create it, we just need to find it under all that clutter and rubble and connect with it in a real, direct way. Here are some ways to find it, that elusive experience of space:

• Be Present: Come back to one of the five senses to connect with space: See the green needles on the baby pine tree, smell the Christmas tree smell, feel the prickly sensation on your fingers as you touch the pointy pine needles.
• Create More Unscheduled Time:  Create more unscheduled time in between scheduled things, no back-to-back appointments, meetings, or the like, making sure there's more time in your day than your lists of things to do require, giving you room to deal with whatever surprises the day may bring.
• Do Nothing: Yes, that's right, sit down and do nothing: no TV or computer or phone or even a book. Sit down and give yourself permission to do absolutely nothing.
• De-clutter your House: Get rid of stuff: furniture, books, clothes, and clutter, remembering that increasing physical space also increases mental space.
• Go Out into Wide Open Spaces:  Wander around in a farmer's field or a forest meadow. Experience the space a football field or the expanse of an ocean view.
• Meditate, or practice yoga or any other mind/body practice, for their very purpose to connect with space.
• Look Up at the Sky: the biggest space of all.                        

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Angela Dawn MacKay

www.knottedwordscelticart.com, Twitter: @AngelaDMac, www.angelamackay.com

Hurry Up to Slow Down: The Paradox of Mindful Living

   So I had an epiphany yesterday – I was cooking a zucchini omelet for lunch  and had the following thought: I would be happy all of the time if I didn't have to rush and hurry.

   What a profound insight. It led me to wonder what I was rushing around for – Why do I always feel that I am in a hurry?

   Well, I had to laugh at the answer! I rush off in the morning to go practice yoga, and then I rush home to sit and meditate, and then I rush through meditation to rush off to walk the dog, and then I hurry the dog home so can hurry through paperwork and cooking lunch so I can walk quickly to work. In all of my attempts to slow down, I still managed to somehow speed up. I hurry up so I can slow down, I hurry now so I can relax later, I hurry through this moment so I can be present in the next. Oh, how silly I am!

   There was a time in my life where slowing down came much more naturally to me. Living in Northern Thailand, where the pace of life is more mellow than North America, it was much easier to see the world with fresh eyes, appreciating all that the present moment had to offer. In a culture that lives so differently then we do, I walked down the city streets of Chiang Mai in awe of all that I saw, smelled, and tasted. I worked little and earned little and I was so happy. I was never in a rush. My biggest decisions in a day were "Do I want the pineapple shake or the mango shake? Green curry or Red curry?"

   Thai culture kept my life fairly simple. It was cheaper to eat out than to cook for yourself. I had a laundry lady who washed, dried, and folded my clothes. The city was small enough that I could bike everywhere. The Rasta bar was around the corner from where I lived – they played Bob Marley every night – I was in heaven. The Thai phrase "Mai Pen Rai" sums up Thai life quite nicely – it literally means "no worries."

   When I returned to North America, I vowed to bring a little piece of Mai Pen Rai back to my life in Canada. I wanted to live simply here, no rushing, no worries. And while I cook, clean,  and do my own laundry, I am blessed enough to be able to have the space to slow down and yet I still manage to fill that space with spiritual to-do lists and zen activities.

   So this morning, I biked slower to yoga, enjoying the quarter moon still out at 5:45 am. I let myself ride in a lower gear, not peddling so hard, no longer pushing to get to my destination. Once, when I was on a meditation retreat, a monk told me of spiritual practice that I needed try – One Gear Lower, he called it. Just shift into a lower gear and slow down. I remembered his words this morning. One gear lower, slow down.

   I practiced yoga with much less attachment to how many poses I "got done." I biked home slowly, enjoying the morning sun that was now awake for the day. I wrote this blog leisurely, while watching a cat bath in the sun and a dog chew on a bone. So content, they are, so Mai Pen Rai.

   And now, I will slowly walk the dog, one gear lower. Ahhhh, how I have missed Mai Pen Rai.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Angela Dawn MacKay 

www.knottedwordscelticart.com, Twitter: @AngelaDMac, www.angelamackay.com

Consider the Lilies

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Angela Dawn MacKay 

www.knottedwordscelticart.com, Twitter: @AngelaDMac, www.angelamackay.com