The Big Picture Is Just a Series of Small Steps
"I spent so much time wishing I could be the thing without ever considering that in trying—in attempting and figuring it out—I am the thing."
The Action Is the Thing
It’s too easy to think getting lost in the small stuff means you’re not really doing the big thing you’re dreaming of but how might that perception shift when you remember the big thing is just a collection of small pieces? Words by Leah Melby Clinton
As summer erupted in the Northeast, I found myself with a sun hat and gloves in the front yard, pulling and yanking and trying to tidy up our unruly landscaping. I’ve loved easy, thoughtless outdoor chores like that for as long as I can remember, starting with raking leaves as a child. There’s a rhythm to it, the task and path so simple: Objective, path forward, success.
With time spent in nature meditative to begin with, routine action somehow ratchets up the mindfulness. The endless mental scroll of a to-do list calms and quiets as focus is directed elsewhere. The act itself isn’t hard—rake, scoop, trim, pull—but it needs something. And what it takes, it takes from the incessant hum that would otherwise be thinking about people to call and emails to send.
I’ve never found my way to meditation as a practice, but I’m beginning to wonder if, actually, I have. That when I’m happily weeding or raking, I’m meditating.
If and when you can find a way to remove the junk thought in order to let richer, more contemplative moments flow unobstructed, are you, simply, meditating?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to In Kind on Monday to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.