Diamonds in My Own Back Yard
Friday, May 30th 2008 @ 10:49 PM (not yet rated)
It was a day of doing. Running from appointment to appointment, getting to the office at 7 and working a long day...
I got stood up for an appt at 5, had another appt at 6, then ran home and ate Kentucky Fried Chicken my husband left on the kitchen counter. I ran a load of laundry, started the dishwasher, and rushed out to get a hose reel for my garden hose that I felt I had to have. I was having the unperfect day.
I found a squirrel feeder at Lowes and bought some ears of corn. It was dark when I got home, but I thought "I'll just walk over to the woods and hang the squirrel feeder up". Another checkmark off my To Do list for today. I walk to the edge of the woods and STOP. There is a cool breeze and the smell of earth coming through the trees. I find a branch for the squirrel feeder and look down. There is a rock glinting. Then it's gone. Are my eyes deceiving me? Look again. There it is again. Then another tiny light and it's gone. Now I am really looking intently. Now a bush is covered with these very faint sparkles like little flashlights beaming on and off. It must be baby fireflies practicing their craft! And they are saying "We are here tonight and you almost missed us because you were so busy." Well, Amen.
I pour myself a glass of wine and pull a chair into the darkness to watch this miracle. As I look up at the night sky, I see tiny stars like flickering pinpoints, mirroring what is happening on the ground. Maybe these little fireflies are stars dropped from the sky to shine their light! In my own back yard!
Do you know the Acres of Diamonds Story? It's supposedly true. A farmer in Africa sold his farm to search the world over for diamonds because he wanted to be rich. One day, despondent because he had spent everything in pursuit of the diamonds, he drowned himself. Another farmer bought his property and one day as he was crossing a stream he saw a flash of light on a rock. He stopped and picked it up and it was a beautiful diamond that had been hidden in the sand. As he looked around the stream was full of diamonds. The moral of the story is that often what you seek in other places is often already there in your own back yard.
Tonight I found diamonds in my own back yard. As I sat in the darkness on the edge of my own wooded mystery, I had my Zen moment and calmness came over me. It's quiet except for the leaves moving in the breeze. I listen as hard as I can and focus on seeing into the darkness and it turns into a wonderful meditation. Tomorrow night I am gong back to look for the baby fireflies again.
In the BuzZen process we call it "Ordinary is Extraordinary" It's a practice we do over the 16 week process. Insects that light up? How extraordinary is that?
