The Daily Sip:
Your
Life With Your Child Is Not A Movie
When it comes down to
it, much of the time there is no real difference between watching
a movie at the theater and "watching" your life. As
for your life, the screen is a little larger (it sort of
wraps around). We get lost in both.
Were you engaged
in mindful movie going, you would maintain awareness that you
were "watching a movie" while enjoying the movie. Each
moment would pass with awareness of the moment. So it is with
mindful parenting. Otherwise, before you know it the movie
is over. You wonder where the time went.
Today, when
you see your child (or talk to, or read an e-mail or letter from your
child) open awareness to how the events taking place are passing before
your eyes. Make sure you are not just watching a movie.
In a theater, it sometimes takes a very scary scene to jar us into
awakeness. ("Yikes, remember it is only a movie.") But in our
life, we want to always be awake and the moments are not
always so scary.
My beautiful child
Here you are
There you go
Where am I?
When you are with your child, be keenly aware of
your child's presence: "My beautiful child/Here you are."
You are not just watching a movie. This is not a film you can
rewind. Be attentive to your child's departing: "There
you go." So often, we come into contact with and separate from
our child barely aware of what is happening. It is all a blur,
if that. If you delete an e-mail or hang up the phone, or if
your child leaves the room, open to the space left behind. Breathe
deep, soften your gaze, and ponder the empty space. Above all,
ask yourself, "Where am I?"
Today's Sip Was Originally Published
on July 8, 2004.
