Maybe if I listen closely to the rocks
Next time, I’ll hear something, if not
A word, perhaps the faint beginning
of a syllable.
—Phoebe Hanson—
Everything in the world has something to say to us: rocks, garbage, even our disappointments and failures. For everything belongs to the vast, pulsating pattern that is the earth. Nothing that exists does not belong; if we find this or that piece of the puzzle troublesome, it’s because we haven’t perceived its contribution to the whole.
Sometimes, when we’re feeling down on ourselves, nothing seems to fit. What we’re really feeling is isolated and sorry for ourselves—“out of sorts,” that is, unmatched. Why do we do this to ourselves—pretend we’re different, pretend that no one can understand us? It’s a childish game, really; we’re surrounded by pattern pieces that we match like lock and key, even the rocks by the cabin door.
I will listen closely. Who knows? I might hear something I need to learn.