Friday, August 11, 2006

Karmic Repair Kit, Item 4

There's a poem( or bit o' verse, if you will) I've always liked, which goes back to my college days. It's called Karmic Repair Kit, Items 1-4 , and went something like this:
1. Get enough food to eat, and eat it.
2. Find a quiet place to sleep and sleep there.
3. Reduce emotional and intellectual noise until you arrive at the silence of yourself, and listen to it.
4.

I am currently on vacation, 10 days in a row free from the rigors of daygigdom, and in embarking on my time-off, this poem came to mind. Normally, with 2 days off every week, 2 for every 5 you work, you don't quite work through all 4 steps in your weekend. At least I don't.

No, I usually get enough food and enough sleep. And usually reduce whatever stress the week brought me to a point of relaxation. But all too often, by the time I've gotten to #4, it's already time to go back to work. Whatever progress I've made just gets caught up in the hustle and bustle of Monday morning, and dissipates with the first wave of irate phone calls.

The thing is, most of us have two different orbits: the one we have to travel in all week for our jobs, and the one for whatever-it-is-we'd-just-as-soon-be-doing. On the weekend, with just 48 hrs to work with, all too often you just get into your own orbit before you have to land and re-group. Re-orbit, as it were.

So with 10 days off, plenty of time to get There and Beyond, we'll see what gives. Still working on #3 at the moment though...

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home