During my Latin American dance lessons here in Sisian, Armenia (which are taught completely in Armenian), I really have to zero-in on each step and pay attention to both my foot placement and the translation of my teacher’s instructions before moving on to the next step. If I were to try to hurry through the whole dance number and put all the steps together without really paying attention to what I’m doing, I’d fumble through the whole thing.
I’d change the entire composition of the dance.
If I could learn to incorporate the same fierce concentration and attentiveness to each step into my busy, hectic lifestyle, my life might resemble more of a dance and less of a prolonged spaz attack.
Today pastor Dan Nold taught me that what I need to focus on at this point in my Peace Corps service is to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry in my life.” When we fill our schedules with so many things that we don’t have enough time to reflect on the inherent value of the things we're filling our time with, we become passive observers of our own lives.
In The Loupe’s Secret essay in Ecological Literacy, Kerry Ruef writes of the jeweler’s loupe (a magnification tool) and its ability to intensify looking, intensify wonder, and intensify concentration. “Unlike a hand lens,” she writes, “it cuts out the rest of the world as you’re looking (no diluting, peripheral information to distract the eye/mind).” I’m challenged this week to intensify my looking, my wonder, and my concentration.
Instead of letting my life’s distractions eliminate me, I need to eliminate my distractions and fully engage in my life.
Weekly Grape: Do I hurry through life?
