Friday, July 16, 2004

Never Done

I read an excellent article this morning entitled "After the Laundry, the Laundry."  In other words, how many times have you just emptied the laundry basket or emptied the dirty dishes from the sink to find both places filled to the brim, once again, with "dirties."  It is a constant cycle. 
 
And yet, is this not how literally everything is?  Everything is impermanent.  Everything withers. Everything dies.  You lose everything eventually.  I remember hearing it said once that "If you imagine the glass as already broken, you won't be disappointed when it breaks." 
 
Now that can be a cause of great depression and despair, or one can realize that with and through death there is always new life.  And then there is the concept of just accepting and celebrating that this is the cycle of things.... so that when I see yesterday's clean sink overspilling with greasy dishes again I can (as the article concludes) "try to see it as an expression of what life is all about: moving through the different stages, surrendering to impermanence, and remembering to embrace it all."
 
And in the end, if that can't cheer you up, there's always this: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/fartingcat.html (Make sure your sound is turned up)

1 comment:

peacefield said...

definitely a great subject. the monotony of life can be conquered easily by realizing the blessings behind dirty dishes (like that we have food to eat and people with whom to share it) and laundry (we have good clothing to wear). only when we begin to become selfish and pick on small things in life do we allow them to bring us down. i've heard the analogy of suffering (through struggles great and minute) being the only way to true happiness. without the bad, the good does not matter after time; without striving to make it through a tough time, there is no reward. i like this post, especially the broken glass concept.