We have been a busy world for the last few years. In our busy-ness we hoped to change the world, and so we ran- in circles, squares, in races, in relays, past some, over some, been run past and over by others. We ran and we expected everyone and everything to run. But now the busy world has been shoved into a box and asked to sit still. Now, everything has ground to a halt, and somehow it is stillness that has changed this world most radically. It has touched everyone.
We have stopped to observe now. We observe the world around us. the grass we trampled as we ran, the trees we never saw flower, the birds we chased off with our horns. We observe the people who are no longer around us. We observe the work that we must do for ourselves to survive and live, now that there is no one to do it for us. We observe these tasks that were once done quietly, by quiet people under the hum of our busy lives.
We have stopped to think now. to think about the weight of our footsteps. the impact of our busy-ness on the world around us. We think about the world that we once occupied. We miss the stimulus it provided. We yearn for it.
In this stillness we look frantically for the memories of this world that we created and whirred past. The places and the people we never stopped to think back to again. and as we stop to observe and think, we talk about it. We have conversations now about all the things that we have missed, that we will never miss again.
As I listen to the leaves rustling outside my window, and the breeze gently moving my curtains aside, I hear it say to me, “Remember these conversations. Remember this time. Treasure what it has taught you:
- Get used to slowing down. Don’t jump to conclusions. Observe. Take the time to take in, and describe what you observe. Think. Take the time to say what you think. Take the time to be sorry, to say you’re sorry, to be thankful, and to say that you are thankful.
- In a world composed of multiple chat screens, get used to the idea of undivided attention. hold it dearly. Expect it when you are expressing yourself, and give your undivided attention to the people you listen to. It is a thing of value, this undivided attention. at the end of it, be grateful that you have it.
- After you come out of quarantine, take in that vast expanse of world around you. be part of it. Give it your undivided attention. Fight for it. Fight to be part of it. Be grateful and compassionate to everything in it.”
As always, would love to hear your perspective and thoughts on this and related subjects.
— The Maverick