After dropping my kids at school the other day, I came home to make soup. I put the pot under the faucet and turned on the water. I became aware of a small disturbance within, and I recognized my own impatience. Taking a breath, I settled into just filling the pot and enjoying the swirl of water and vegetables, the sound of the faucet, and the reflections of light.
It is easy to get caught out between what is actually happening and wanting to push it along. The habit to be where we are not is a kind of mini death. We miss our life as it unfolds. Our life can be boiled down to a single moment of alert activity.
Filling a pot with water can be a moment of wonder. If I want to just get it done so I can move on to other more seemingly important matters, then cooking becomes drudge. As I awoke to my pot-chicken-soup self I became intimate with the chicken, for which I felt gratitude. This was followed by a deep empathetic caring for all who go hungry. The pot was filled with inter-connection and compassion for all of humanity, not just with chicken and rice! There is nothing to wait for in this life...sitting at the bus stop just doing what you are doing is wonderful.....and the bus might come along.
