…we both want a joy of undeep and unabiding things…
—Gwendolyn Brooks—
When I can live fully in each moment, I can open myself to beauties that might otherwise escape me entirely. The more attune I am to what is really going on right
now, which means unhooking my mind from preoccupation with the past and worry about the future, the freer I am to catch fleeting perceptions and subtle shifts in
the world about me. We know that we only use about 10 percent of our brain’s capacity for the ordinary business of living, which includes building space shuttles and
filing tax returns. The more fully we can bring ourselves to each moment, the more of our capacity is available for living. Life isn’t last year, or ten minutes from now;
it’s now, this moment, which will pass and be followed by more passing moments, a flow of time in which we’re carried forward. Our journey is smoothed when we learn
to let go, and it’s eased by the joy we learn to take in “undeep and unabiding things.”
Paradoxical but true: I’ll find lasting happiness only when I let go of the notion of permanence.