Getting away

I am always amused by the fact that when i am away on a holiday, i am awake bright and early, but in the daily grind, when i am required to do so, i toss and turn, and require an external ring to jolt me awake! I finished my stretches looking out at the sea, waiting for the sun to rise. All i can hear around me, when i am sitting at the balcony looking out at the sea in the distance is the chirping of the birds, the wind through the cashew trees. The bumble bee seemed to be very choosy, taking its time to settle on a flower, and i could also hear the buzzing of its wings, the absence of which was noticeable when it finally did so I never knew sounds could be so palpable; or was it so because i am so aware, so tuned in to all my senses, that i am able to experience everything going on around me ? In the daily humdrum of existence we are living parallel lives i guess. While we are up and running, we do not have time to listen to the subtle nuances of our lives, and we seem to need to tune in consciously before we can experience the calm stillness that i am doing so now. Yet i am not fully unwound. The stillness around me denoted a sense of calmness, while the noise of my thoughts was almost deafening. A result of habit i guess. They flit from one thought to the other, like the bumblebee. But the bee flitting seems to have a sense of purpose; it seemed to be its nature to do so. My thoughts seemed purposeless, and did not seem to offer any nectar when they did rest on one particular subject ! Living with the present moment awareness i guess is just that... Let your thoughts rest. The sound of swishing water made me look around... A little boy was clearing the dead leaves from the swimming pool, which had a quaint tree right in the centre of the pool! The birds sitting on the tree flew away, annoyed perhaps at someone having intruding into their morning litany. Much as i would have loved to sit around and gaze out of the balcony, the clearing of the pool denoted the fact that nature would have to step aside for the order of civilization, where we humans intrude on the privacy of the squirrels chasing each other on the branches and on the parapets and drown the sounds of birds, with the roars or vehicles, and the ringing of the telephone ordering for room service! Maybe that is also why the sun, which looked so beautiful and serene just a while ago, is now beating down my face even glaring at me.... The heat is on ! Mohana Narayanan May 5, 2012