September 5, 2006
- Day 7 - Week 22 - Re-Enchanting Everyday Life
Greetings, friends and family of Peter and Katy! I
suspect that the pace of life has picked up
considerably for most of us during the past 24
hours. Those last delicious moments of a long summer
weekend are now but a fading vision in your rear
view mirror. The dreaded routine is back once again.
It's a perfect time to compose a game plan for the
coming weeks and month as a "new year" is upon us.
Given our journey with cancer during the past year,
it may be helpful to establish some guidelines as we
put a game plan together.
Before Peter and Katy left for the Cape, I passed a
book along to him------one that has had a
significant impact on my life since I first read it
ten years ago. The book, "The Re-enchantment of
Everyday Life", was written by Thomas Moore, a
former "almost priest", clinical psychologist, and
professor of religion. It's crammed full of wisdom
and insight that, if taken to heart and put into
practice, can improve the quality of life
significantly for anyone. It's the perfect book for
"inside the beltway bureaucrats" who slog to work,
day after day, fighting unwinable battles against
the forces of darkness. I know. I was one of those
bureaucrats back in 1996. It's also a perfect book
for those engaged in battles against seemingly
unbeatable odds. Cancer, for example.
Moore, whose first book, "Care of the Soul", was a
major success----offered specific insights into
everyday life in "Re-enchantment" that enabled me to
look beyond my losing battles on Capitol Hill and to
achieve a certain comfort level each day. At the end
of the day, despite all of the craziness in
Washington's corridors of power, I arrived home
feeling positive about the day and my role in it.
His formula is quite simple really. It's about the
choices you make about how you spend your time. It's
about process, not about outcome. It's about
imagination and play more than about reality. It's
about feeding your spirit, not your ego.
I'm sure you've all read or heard the old "prayer"
emblazoned on gift shop knatchkie----Lord, give me
the strength to change the things I can change, the
patience to cope with the things I can't change, and
the wisdom to know the difference"....or something
to that effect. Thomas Moore's writings pick up this
theme, and add some substantive guidance to produce
enchantment. If ever there is a place where change
seems impossible, or at best, pyrrhic, Capitol Hill
is the place. One's sense of contribution to the
greater good is minimal at best, and often
completely missing. Self worth is often questioned;
morale often low----self esteem, often non-existent.
It is precisely under those circumstances that
focusing one's attention on those aspects of living
over which one has control becomes critical to
affirming self-worth.
How does one "re-enchant" one's life on the Hill?
Answer: in small ways, but they work. In a place
where time is critical, the shortest distance
between two places is a straight line. Not, however,
if you're into "enchantment". I purposely chose to
walk a slightly longer distance from the metro
station to my office so that I could walk through a
lovely wooded park at the beginning and end of my
day. Over time, I learned all the trees and plants
that lined the walk. (Trees on the Hill are gifts
from different states that characterize the natural
arbor of the state.) I assigned nicknames to many of
them. It always brought a smile to me when I said
good morning to "Touchdown" or patted "Grampa's" old
and gnarly trunk. "Twizzler" somehow corkscrewed its
way out of the soil in a magnificent effort which
won my admiration each day.
Gradually, I found that opportunities for
enchantment were all around me if I would only
engage my creative imagination. My office became a
haven of symbols and pictures of people and places
dear to my heart. No matter where I looked while I
was on the phone, I was reminded of loving
relationships in every nook and cranny of Room 703
of the Hart Senate Office Building. My screen saver
on my computer featured an ever changing variety of
scenes of my home state of New Mexico. Sometimes I
would delay departure until I had tasted just a few
more screen savers before going to a meeting or
heading home.
During the past few years, I have begun a small rock
garden in my bathroom which features rocks and other
natural "mementos" of particular places which I
love. Sometimes, when I brush my teeth, I pick up a
rock, hold it in my hand, close my eyes and imagine
that place. It's incredible what the mind can do
when it seeks to retain images. Those images bring a
glow to my life each day-----regardless of life's
storms that may lie outside my door.
I think you get the point here. It's those small
moments each day and what you choose to do with them
which can add an immense amount of quality to life.
In the context of a major battle for life, such as
our struggles with cancer, it may be all the more
important to take those mini steps toward
enchantment. Those steps might be as good as any
medicine you take. How do you "enchant" your life?
Please share a note if you are so inclined. I
suspect we might have quite a menu of ideas.
Back to Week
22 |
| |
|
|
|
