Last night I was sitting in front of my computer, sending out some work-related email. Sitting on the shelves above my desk were a few random books (random in that they somehow ended up in the wife's education boxes, so they were 'rediscovered ' during TheGreatUnpack).
One of the books was Expect Nothing, a slim volume of short essays applying the Buddhist concept of attachment to everyday life. I get this idea...that you create unnecessary pressure on yourself (and others) by focusing on what could be. Turning that into action? Well, that's not so simple.
For instance, over the past six months or so, there's been this state of flux going on at home as we've prepared a house for sale, waited (and waited, and waited) for a buyer to come along, dealt with the logistics of actually moving, etc. And of course while that was going on there was (and is) stuff to deal with at work, the wife starting a new job, a maddening presidential season, reviews to write, dinners to cook...you know...I think they call it life.
Would any of this been easier if I wasn't so worried about the final result. Probably. I'd love to get to that place (but sure have my doubts).
This morning me & the wife are headed out, first to have breakfast at one of those quintessentially New England pancake houses (used to be a barn, they make their own syrup, the tables are made from slabs of trees, it's heated with woodstoves) and then to attend two house closings. If all goes well there we can sit back and enjoy the idea that that chapter is finally closed.
Maybe those few short essays have changed my thinking a litte, as the pessimist in me in not at all worried about disaster at the lawyer's office.
Right now, I'm just looking forward to my pumpkin pancake and that first cup of coffee.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
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