Monday, July 15, 2013

Begin the begin

It’s still spring and still difficult to know it as such. The good thing about today though is that it’s that kind of rainy day not yet raining day and Sunday to boot that allows one the luxury to stay inside and enjoy the comfort that these days can bring.  I am listening to my own advice. 

Someone wrote that they’re not enjoying their birthdays as they did when they were young.  In truth, I really don’t remember too many celebrations of my birthday. I don’t think it was a focus for attention when I was growing up. But as I’ve gotten older I have loved these days because I use them to allow myself the meandering kind of soul filled time that is unstructured.  It feels like the same ideas as the labyrinth walk that is designed to lead you to a more inward space.  But there is no deliberate design that I follow. It is a time when I am safe and have the good fortune to be able to do the spiritual schmooze.

My birthday is also meant to be a spiritual schmooze day. But I seem to have the expectation and desire to have some intent then to have it be more like a labyrinth.  My hope is that I will get to the essence of what I want to focus on in the coming year. I want to feel closer to that purpose which seems crowded out of my life because of the tyranny that the week can hold over me. 

Yet once my birthday begins I noticed that I am always open to being moved off that course as well.  It is setting aside the time that seems essential.  Cole Porter’s song ‘Begin the beguine’ comes to mind only because from being a kid on I hear the title as ‘Begin the begin’, only with an accent.  I find it silly to begin the begin because it’s punny and I’m sure that was deliberate. By the way,  the “beguine” is a dance from Martinique.  I’m also sure most people get it wrong and think it’s begin the begin. So I’m not alone in that. That’s okay. When it comes to soul filled days, whether rainy days, birthdays or New Year’s Day for some, it is about begin the begin.  It’s about renewal and creating a fresh focus. I hope you have already started and that it feels like you did just begin. 

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