A few days ago, I woke up to the sound of dinging. Morning text dings have replaced ringing phone calls as the end of sleep. No need to set an alarm; these texts carried their own alarms--news flashes, nearby street closures, L.A.P..D. missing persons announcements, a group text with war updates, and another with disturbing election news. Prospects for the day seemed to sink. This annoyed me, so I declared to myself, "May is not Mayhem!" I decided despite the early disruption, I would have a day of Ease. It seemed only natural to extend that vow into this Sunday post, initiating the upcoming week as a spiritual discovery and practice of Ease.
This does not mean that the days are suddenly smooth sailing. After my self-declaration on what May is not, the days were double packed with responsibilities and urgent tasks, making it difficult to remember the path of Ease, but that is the usual course of a new practice. Start with small pieces of Ease, recognizing them, remembering Ease, approaching the increasingly difficult or resistant chore, more relaxed and more gently. Try completing simple tasks with the recognition that they are not barriers to the day, but belong to the day's meaning and ...joy. There is joy in each day, It takes practice to recognize it and, even if very briefly, savor it.
A few months ago, I took 2 grandchildren with me to buy office and school supplies at the local Staples store. The kids were spying around for some inexpensive toy or treat. One of them found a plastic disc in a markdown items basket--it was part of a past promotional slogan on how easy it was to shop for supplies. When you push down on the disc, it announces, in a slightly excited, but victorious voice, "That was Easy!" I loved it and so did she, so we bought it. For a few weeks, when faced with a household chore or a school homework project, she would gleefully run and get the disc, and when the job was done, the voice rang out, "That was Easy!" Sometimes she surprised me after-the-fact, sneaking in the disc, including times when I had complained! Now I see an expanded value to the ritual.
To build a sense of Ease, you start with the obvious easy moment, and then that expands to a beginning recognition that life is actually full of Ease, every day there are moments of Ease. But difficulties tend to cast shadows that obscure the underlying Ease of life, the do-able, the delightful. Like any cognitive/emotional process, the more we recognize those Easy moments, the more awareness expands our capacity for Ease. The more we dwell on difficulty, the more space it fills in our expectations of disappointment and more difficulty. Consider this week that simply recognizing the way of Ease, in whatever activity presents itself, can pave the way to an Easier Life. Try it; it's Easy. (Susan Nettleton)
for poetry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/155965/ease
https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/path-of-ease-1d2a3dd1d8b2
https://www.wisdom2be.com/gems-poetry-wisdomstories/when-the-shoe-fits-by-chuang-tzu