When this month rolls around, we are duly reminded of heart-felt things. Pity that we need to be. If St. Valentine had not existed, then who or what would have filled the space? Sort of like Christmas…we must be told to love, cherish, and speak deep feelings, give gifts, and so on. And who does this reminding? Those who are selling items that can be thought of as denoting love and heart-felt feelings.
Do you remember the school days of buying a packet of little tagboard valentines, and writing kids' names on them, and passing them out? What on earth did those actions really mean? If you were fortunate, you received a few. If you were prized, you received a lot. They seemed to be more a measure of popularity than love. As many things are in our culture.
It isn't an event unless there is a popular celebrity attached. For some reason, it seems, we cannot bear to "waste" time on someone whom we've never heard of, and I'm as guilty as the next person in that respect. For instance, it's not a decent conference relating to the outdoors unless Terry Tempest Williams speaks at it, or Wendell Berry, or some other well-known writer. And yet, there are a myriad of writers, less well known or hardly known at all, who have rich thoughts. They just haven't made the big time.
We have this ache for celebrity, and we seem to feed off others' celebrity. As if by mentioning their names, we become enhanced. By quoting their writing, we seem smarter. Maybe I'm feeling this way, in particular, because I have this tendency to fall back on what others have written when asked my thoughts about something. And yet, I've done some rereading of my own Skyearth Letters, and I still like what I've written and, amazingly, find some gems of sayings that I thought of all by myself. The trouble is, I can never recall what I've written when I have the need to. Kind of leads me to think that my brain is full of broken synapses. Like a sponge, it can absorb quite a lot, but squeeze it once and all those thoughts are dripped out and gone. Thank goodness for paper and computer files, but mostly paper; hard copy can be handled anywhere.
Somehow, I just went from love to mush, and not quite in the same track. So I'm going to fall back on something that is cruising the internet the last couple of months. It's shown up in my mail box several different ways, so I'm going to quote from it, with my thanks to the now-anonymous author who began circulating the story:
If we have true compassion in our hearts, our children will be educated wisely, we will care for the earth, those who "have not" will be cared for. The group asked the Dalai Lama, "Do you think loving on the planet is increasing or staying the same?" His response: "My experience leads me to believe that love IS increasing." He shared a simple practice that will increase loving and compassion in the world. He asked everyone in the group to share it with as many people as they can.
The Practice:
1. Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected to one another.
2. Spend 5 minutes -- breathing in - cherishing yourself; and, breathing out - cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway.
3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the "simplest" person (clerks, attendants, etc.), as well as the "important" people in your life; cherish the people you love and the people you dislike.
4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you. These thoughts are very simple, inspiring and helpful. The practice of cherishing can be taken very deep if done wordlessly, allowing yourself to feel the love and appreciation that already exists in your heart.
There's not too much more to be said in a month that aims at the heart.
Love to you all,
Cherie Staples
Editor