Noticing Your Life

Among the simple pleasures of Dakota is driving where there’s no traffic.  One moonlit night late in the fall, my husband and I left Rapid City and traveled the 200 miles home seeing fewer than fifteen vehicles and well over a hundred antelope.  Most days I take a long walk at sunrise and sometimes I’m greeted with a spectacular moonset as well, the western horizon on fire.  There’s no sound to speak of except for wind and birdsong –Kathleen Norris, Dakota, p.36

A spiritual life can be very simple but very difficult.  Spirit can manifest in something as simple as paying attention to our lives, but we often drift through days unconsciously, unprocessed moments punctuated by irritation, surprise or delight.  But every day provides us with the unrealized opportunity to find many special moments in the mindless passing of the hours of our lives.  We only need to choose to notice.

A noticing practice is not meant to wake you up to every moment.  In fact, it can help you to notice that moments before you weren’t paying attention at all.  It also isn’t intended as another excuse to punish yourself for not being as “spiritual” as you would like.  It’s just noticing, plain and simple.

What can we notice?  Well, as I’m writing I’m noticing how comfortable this particular key pad is to use…I can hear Sweet Honey and the Rock’s music accompanying my husband’s painting the back fence….I hear birds taking turns in loosing their voices on the premature heat of a spring day.  I might also notice my emotional reactions during the day…my irritation when I notice someone has taken a locker right next to mine at the gym when there are plenty of others open…my simple joy when Jerry brings up his thoughts about something I was just thinking about…or my disappointment of waking up stiff and sore in the morning for no apparent reason (except my growing older).

Noticing may also be practiced around the simple pleasures of my life….eating wheat chex with soy milk, raisins and almonds in the morning….having tomatoes for my salad that taste like tomatoes….a sudden breeze that soothes the edges of a heat wave…a photo on my computer desktop of a beautiful Chinese garden, a photo my husband took…a hummingbird at our kitchen sliding glass door, hovering as if to coax us to put up our feeder a month early, and when we do, seeing two hummingbirds the next day, sipping away…

A noticing practice can open us up to more than just our own lives. When I get hungry after a work-out, I complain and sometimes stop in mid-sentence, realizing there are people who are really hungry in the world.  I don’t chastise myself for complaining.  I just note my hunger and note the bigger picture.  When I become frustrated because someone is not helping me with a project, I remember that there are people whose unwillingness to collaborate has led to war and death.  When I wish I were busier with work, I note the people who have little or no means of support.

What is the benefit of noticing?  For ourselves, we become more awake and train the mind to be more attentive in our daily lives.  We slow down and begin to appreciate not only those things that are out of the ordinary, but appreciate the simplicity and wonder of many of our moments which, once they pass, are gone forever.  In a larger framework, we begin to realize that there are people all over the world who are sharing the same experiences, every moment of our lives.  Whether we feel joy, frustration, bewilderment, anger or satisfaction, millions of people are simultaneously joining us in our experience.

But perhaps most important, when we begin to notice the countless, fleeting moments of our lives, we begin to realize that our lives are not just to be celebrated in the “big” moments, but in every moment.  And with that possibility, we realize, with gratitude that the Divine and universal are present in every one of those moments.  We just need to wake up from our unconsciousness and realize the presence that is always, ceaselessly, there.

In addition to her spiritual practices, Susan R. Quinn of the Quinn Company has been an independent consultant and trainer since 1978.  She specializes in facilitation of problem solving for teams and groups in conflict.  She is certified to train using the DiSC Personal Profile System.  Her other best-received training programs are “Dealing with Difficult People,”  “Managing Conflict,” and “Learning to Live in the Eye of the Hurricane.”  She also offers values clarification workshops and strategic planning services in partnership with her husband, Jerry.  To subscribe to her business ezine, go to www.thequinncompany.com.  You can reach Susan at the Quinn Company, 246 Via Presa, San Clemente, CA  92672, (949) 366-5890, or email susan@thedeepestspirituallife.com.