Wood Chips
From the shores of Lake Superior (The Third Coast)
In recent days, I’ve spent time at our cabin north of Marquette, cleaning up after another season of maple syrup and sugar-making. Days of “shelter in place” have slowed things down. In the past, many of the chores there were undertaken, wood stacking, stove and pan cleaning, sap collecting, as tasks to be completed, quickly and efficiently. Because I was working alone this year, accompanied only by our dog, it was necessary, for safety ‘s sake, to move slowly, more intentionally than normal. I used a mind/body practice from Eckhart Tolle. It worked. I’ll call it “Path in the Forest.” Try it. I think you’ll be surprised.
Here’s how it works: Imagine yourself walking through a forest in heavy fog. You have a flashlight. You’re shining it on the path in front of you. That’s where your intention needs to be, fully. If you look up into the forest, lifting your flashlight, you will panic. You can’t see anything clearly. (That metaphorically is the “future.” No one knows what’s coming.) Looking “back” also will not prove helpful. You won’t notice what’s right ahead. What is most appropriate is to be attentive to what is in front of you, step by step. Breathe, do not rush. Be focused. Be grateful that you have a path. It is in front of you! That’s the point: Make your bed, clean the dishes, do your planning. But do these things in a focused way. Let anxiety about the future or regret about the past only visit you in passing. They’re only taking away what’s right in front of you.
Practice this. The world will suddenly come into a new kind of clarity and peace. Guaranteed. A strange kind of gift arising out of what are, for many of us, extraordinary days of stress and fear.
Jon
The Cedar Tree Institute
“Wood Chips” is a series of brief reflections written by Jon Magnuson, Director of the Cedar Tree Institute.
