Pay Attention!

It starts on the 5th of July. I feel sorry for the kids who have to listen to “Back to School” ads from July 5th onwards; in other words, for 2/3 of their summer vacation! When I was a kid, they had the decency to hold off on reminders of the new school year until the last week or two of August. We had until after Labor Day to enjoy summer before we had to buckle down. Nevertheless, the day did come when we were back at our wooden desks with the admonition to now “pay attention.” We did in fact hear that a lot. Pay attention to your teacher, to the principal, to the crossing guard, to the bus driver, the librarian, your grandfather and most of all your parents! We had a lot of practice paying attention.

Did I really learn to pay attention? Well, to some things, yes, things like a barking dog or a wailing ambulance. But also, the smell of marigolds, or of dinner cooking, and the feel of the embroidered stitching on grandma’s quilt. Looking back now, I know I missed a lot because I wasn’t paying attention all that closely, and besides, I was a kid. I missed a lot of sunrises and sunsets for starts. But I also missed a lot of Dad’s war stories and a lot of Mom’s sighs. Now that I’m paying attention better, I miss all those things and more.

I can’t use Rocky & Bullwinkle’s Wayback Machine and go back in time, but I can make a conscious decision to pay attention going forward. Centering Space helps me to do that. Their thoughtful programs and facilitators call me to practice using my head and my heart as I move through the days given to me. I always feel more grounded and open to life after meeting with others at Centering Space. The poetry programs particularly speak to me. It was at a Centering Space program that I got some of the best advice I’ve ever received. This, by way of the poet Mary Oliver:

Instructions for living a life:
                                            Pay attention.
                                            Be astonished.
                                           Tell about it. 

So much wisdom in so few words!  It’s good to be at Centering Space, in the company of others who want to follow the same advice and tell about it.
~ Ginny Douglas