My entire summer has been centered around moving--obtaining boxes, packing, repairing, filing for township permits, and my least favorite, waiting. We moved on Wednesday, two house closings in one day; and the mover arrived on Thursday morning.
Life is always changing; the only difference is how visible the flux is. In my case, this summer has brought a lot of apparent change. But the truth of the matter is that our lives are always in motion. We conceal life's unreliability and uncertainty by setting goals, pursuing our desires--all of which is well and good, provided we don't get lost in the chase and believe that we have constructed anything permanent or reliable.
We haven't.
In Fight Club, Tyler Durden sums desire up perfectly: "The things you own, wind up owning you."
In our attempt to give our lives meaning and solidity, we chase things. Objects, people, relationships, status, emotional states, and on and on. For instance, I just mowed my new lawn yesterday, and realizing that the property might be a little too large for a push mower, I'm considering buying a used ride-on mower.
That's how life works: no sooner have we attended to one detail, when another surfaces. With a more complex mower engine comes more responsibility. And on and on life goes.
The thing is, we can be honest and open to the nature of reality--impermanent and uncertain--and the human condition--insatiable--and then the struggles of life transform into a dance. When we know what to expect from life, including ourselves as desirous beings, then we can open ourselves up to it. Stop resisting our circumstances (or fighting, is more like it), and lose ourselves in the magnificent flow that is reality.
I think that the best word to describe this is gratitude.
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