By Mark Nepo
It was a beautiful sun-filled day. I had driven 300 miles to see her. She was 94 and had been in one room for close to 8 months. I was her first-born grandson, and she was so happy to see me. But after catching up, we sat in silence on the edge of her bed, and, finally, she complained how gray a day it was.
I realized then that her one window hadn't been cleaned in almost a year. When I said this, she chuckled, as only someone 94 can, and uttered with her Russian accent, "Got a dirty eye, see a dirty world."
--
It is the same with our minds and hearts. For our very self is the one window we have into this life. And so often, we suffer the mood of a dirty window, believing the brilliant world gray.
Perhaps the purpose of authentic relationship is to help each other keep our minds and hearts clear. Perhaps inner work is the ordinary art of window-washing so that the day is fully the day.
"Before fixing what you're looking at, check what you're looking through."
It was a beautiful sun-filled day. I had driven 300 miles to see her. She was 94 and had been in one room for close to 8 months. I was her first-born grandson, and she was so happy to see me. But after catching up, we sat in silence on the edge of her bed, and, finally, she complained how gray a day it was.
I realized then that her one window hadn't been cleaned in almost a year. When I said this, she chuckled, as only someone 94 can, and uttered with her Russian accent, "Got a dirty eye, see a dirty world."
--
It is the same with our minds and hearts. For our very self is the one window we have into this life. And so often, we suffer the mood of a dirty window, believing the brilliant world gray.
Perhaps the purpose of authentic relationship is to help each other keep our minds and hearts clear. Perhaps inner work is the ordinary art of window-washing so that the day is fully the day.
"Before fixing what you're looking at, check what you're looking through."
