Aug 26 2022
I used to think I wrote because there was something I wanted to say. Then I thought, ‘I will continue to write because I have not yet said what I wanted to say.’ But I know now I continue to write because I have not yet heard what I have been listening to.- Mary Ruefle
You reading these words, I writing them – where are we going? What is the plan? Your find yourself here. But do you, really? Do I? Where do we find ourselves–really?
Sometimes, even on days when I have nowhere to be, I feel a strange pressure within. What is this feeling? I believe it has something to do with the strange woman inside.
It has come to my attention recently that, inside me, is a woman who believes she is running late. Who is she? How long has she been there? And late for what?
These are reasonable questions. I don’t believe she knows the answers. I know I don’t. This does not stop either of us from feeling a sense of low grade urgency. “Hurry please!” she whispers, always demanding, but never impolite. “Hurry please!” And I, who have always disliked hurrying, feel an odd compulsion to obey.
At such times the delicate, green fronds of my awareness pull back and curl up tightly. Like a touched touch-me-not, I, too, am capable of closing up shop in an instant. Capable of withdrawing to a safe distance within myself. That is to say, out of reach of the coltish and curious present.
Dogs and toddlers are the opposite of touch-me-nots. They gambol about in constant full-bodied contact with the here and now. Because they exist in a state of near-constant surprise, they are not fascinated by the future, and they are unafraid of delays.
But for those of us freighted with dreams, unmitigated contact with this moment always runs the risk of delaying our arrival at the next (somehow more important) moment. And according to the nameless, recently discovered woman inside me – the one who believes she is running late – all delays are disadvantageous. So even though we do not know where we are going, she and I, we have been trying to get there quickly. We have been trying not to waste time being here, when we could be arriving there. And recently, it must be reported, I have been falling short.
Ignoring the exigencies of the situation, I have tended to tarry. Have allowed myself to be waylaid. By crow calls and hummingbird wings, by moss drifts on old oaks, by the long lasso of the lily’s scent. By the sunlight that pours into my pockets bearing a silence so wide, it opens closed spaces within. A silence so deep it swallows up the strange woman inside - her urgency, mine, and our memories of each other– submerged in a sea of gold.
Now, you who find yourself here (or do you really?) tell me — where did I lose myself? Where am I to be found?
No, no – wait!
I’ve changed my mind. Don’t give me the answer. Why spoil the mood?
Let’s continue to dance instead. Let’s continue to dance this dance, of losing and finding, finding and losing, losing and finding — until we are both so dizzy, so dazzled — we do not know the difference anymore.
Pavithra Mehta is a writer and poet, coordinator of DailyGood, and a contributing editor for works & conversations.
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On Sep 13, 2022 Judy Kahn wrote:
Pavithra, what a wonderful piece. I know about the strange woman inside, and I suspect that mine is not so different from yours. Mine spends hours each day trying to keep up with the business of life--doctors' appointments, financial matters, maintaining the upkeep of two houses and a car, maintaining the upkeep of my aging body and mind, seeing to my daughter's needs. When I stop and enter my garden with its three hummingbirds zooming around the feeder, banana trees overtaking more than their share of space, pots and pots of plants that need feeding and propagating (usually a grand pleasure to attend to), my strange woman whispers that I should be inside with my computer or iPhone or Apple Watch taking care of business. I have become Ms. Scheduler. But maybe today will be the day that I stop and listen to what you are writing to me, pay attention to your excellent plan, begin to feed my delicate, green fronds of awareness.On Sep 7, 2022 Stephanie Peek wrote:
I think—rather, I know that it’s not only the hummingbirds we should slow down and listen to but also we must to each other. Lately, I have stopped rushing; I stop and listen to what strangers say, and friends too. “What’s the hurry?”