I carry this one so securely that if I’m searched it will not be found. My shot is before breakfast. Conveniently, once completed I forget about it and go forward into my day confident my coordination will be enhanced, not be impaired.
The sound of my car starting when I turn the ignition registers deeply and I thrill to the energy surge on the open road as the cylinders respond to the injected fuel. The car’s interior, - smooth, neat and functional, carries the faint odor of upholstery. Instruments and dials swing into action to mirror my own functionality, wired to participate in contemporary living. Around me cars move, some faster, some slower, some changing lanes. I delight in the measured order of traffic, my place in the stream of the workforce, my input at this time in human history in this city.
The distant hills are greener than they were last week and have responded to recent rain. The sun’s rising brings colour and variation to the cloud’s hues, complimenting their shapes as they change and billow, coaxed by the wind. The hum of life and action all around me seems to integrate with my own physiology, engendering a sense of coherency and quiet purpose.
At work I hear the sound of my colleagues’ voices, rich in variation, subtle in tone. The movement of cars to places of employment has become the movement of people to desks of action. Cooperation is the name of the game as I sense the urgency of consolidating the company’s vision, moving forward with sustainable practice, ensuring quality of product and realistic price on the market.
Once or twice most days, at unexpected moments, there is an interior quietening followed by an altered perception of ordinary things and events. They shift up a gear and become smoother, better, nicer: the outline of my desk, the secretary watering the office plants, the group filling cups at the coffee machine, a colleague making a point on the phone. I’m not sure of this but it seems one day this awareness will become more frequent and last longer. I hope so; it is a compass pointing to a future mode of being I’d readily choose.
At home when all are in bed I step out on the lawn with the dog and reflect on the day. It has been thoroughly ordinary, though familiar scenes and events have seemed special. Paradox? Sure. The traffic hums in the distance.
In the morning I’ll wake well before the family to consolidate the ritual that has shaped my life for the better in recent times. It is a meditative prayer or prayerful meditation (I couldn’t say which.) In essence it affirms the power of inwardness that generates refreshment quite aside from the comforts and stimulation of ordinary living. It asks for nothing, -simply to ‘go there’ is sufficient.
When omitted my day is poorer in perception, coherency, meaning. Long is the road I walk with fellow beings, but it is savored, sustained and enriched by this simplest of daily bread.