Dawdling

"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.

 Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.

 We cannot cure the world of sorrows,

but we can choose to live in joy."

                                                                    - Joseph Campbell

The pace of modern life is hectic, it is as if, speed and efficiency are the signs of a good life. We all know that isn’t true, but that awareness, doesn’t keep us from the consequences of speeding along. Who knew lemmings were so fast.

Every year, I promised myself long ago, I would write at least one Slow Lane that addressed the way we speed through this life. This piece hails back to that impulse, the one that served as the beginning place, for this long-winded diatribe about Life’s gifts. Speeding is decidedly not one of them, because it tends to obscure the real beauties of existence. Slowing down, not only reveals the real sorrows and miracles of life, but reveals how they are joined. It is this invisible (with speed) symmetry that makes the holy vision of the world palpable.

Lately, I have found myself grieving about another way speed, the pace of our race, has enabled the denial of our truest humanity. Like water that adhering speedily to the surface, creates a flash flood. Too many of us, caught up in the rat race, never experience depth, and as a consequence, never really know ourselves.

It makes sense that we are haunted by so many conspiracy theories (threats from others). It is difficult to maintain a life, that is so easily thrown off course, because of others actions. To maintain course, one needs the ballast of solid self. Speed, the over concern with having too much to do, denies self-knowledge. Constant activity prevents experience of the self. That is why some people keep themselves busy. They don’t want to face the emptiness, that comes with not knowing self. And that experience of shallowness inside, and distrust outside, is the recipe for feeling threatened by outside sources. 

The solidity and depth of one’s self provides the confidence in one’s self-motivated direction that keeps one on one’s self-chosen trajectory.  To get anywhere significant, one has to slowdown enough, to take one’s own measure.

Then going has intrinsic meaning — paradoxically —slowing down speeds one up.

The essential message of this tract is, that the holiness, created by the blending of the world’s sorrows with the world’s great joys, cannot be apprehended going too fast. Slow down, and feel your heartbeat. It is a part of the world’s rythem.