Mindful Impermanence… Red Sky in Morning

PART 2 ARTICLE 4 AUDIO FILE IN FOOTER

Nudged gently awake this morning by a luminous, deep orange light suffusing through my window, I maneuvered my contrary body out of my recliner, through the back door, to witness clouds, now the color of Alaskan salmon, ablaze.    

Patches of blue sky peered out from behind as a few dark clouds taunted with the familiar verse,  “red sky in morning, sailors take warning”.

As the colors changed dramatically with each passing second, I ran barefoot through puddles on my patio and saturated, muddy grass to witness my little neighborhood aglow.  The sky an amazing palette of blue, purple, pink, orange and yellow took my breath away.

The little houses popped out from the background in a way I have never noticed before.   And my amazing knock-out roses are still a fluorescent coral, even after two hard freezes in late November.

Even the unraked leaves, making a mess of my yard, join the glowing symphony of hydrangeas well past their prime.

The blue blob (as my neighbor Linda calls her wrapped boat) is a perfect match to my two trash containers, left there two days longer than they should be.  Complementing one another they  add  a beguiling pop of royal blue, quite pleasing in its own imperfect little way. 

Transfixed, I continue to observe this ever-changing scene.  The brilliant palette of the sky transforms in small, barely perceptible increments, mysteriously bleaching it to a uniform light gray.  I feel chilled as a thick mist slowly envelops me as the tiniest vestige of distant thunder whispers its warning of the coming storm.

This scene, gifted to me as I begin to write my next book, serves as a perfect example of mindfulness.  Spending time being fully immersed in the present moment promises to bring you right to the center of your own being… the best part of yourself.  You will notice a sense of calm, an inner peace that you can carry with you as the day proceeds.

Mindfulness is not about perfection.  It is the practice of seeing the richness of everything exactly as it is.  Imperfections, like the blue blob, trash barrels or decaying leaves, do not need to take away from the beauty of the scene.  Nor should the annoying, challenging parts of our day ruin our lives.  

Transitioning from the momentary beauty of a glorious sunrise to a now wet, cold, stormy day points out the one thing we can count on… impermanence.  Paradoxically, impermanence is the only permanent aspect of our lives.  This is great news when going through difficult times; not so much when life is good.

But the fact remains that impermanence is here to stay.  Peaceful acceptance of this reality promises a more tranquil life.

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the inspirational gifts I recognize all the time.  Life for me, for all of us, hasn’t been easy, but there are ways to make it just a little better.

This is what I will be sharing in “Swimming Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg”, to be presented as it is written on christajohnsonmd.com.

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