“Both rituals and telescopes are portals to the mysterious and to wonder,”
~Michael Kroth
“I think everyone in every culture has felt a sense of awe and wonder looking at the sky. This is reflected throughout the world in both science and religion.”
~Carl Sagan, Varieties of Scientific Experience, p. 2
The vastness of a new year lies before us. The opportunity to delve more deeply into life and what lies beyond life sits within every moment, every decision we make, each experience we undertake. How to make it rich, meaningful, fun? How not to take this gift for granted, how not to waste it?
I know one strategy that helps me.
“Hey everyone, this is just a heads up that tomorrow I’m going to be checking out of Facebook for a while. I’m not sure how long this will be, but it’s just temporary.”
Thus began my traditional (this is the second year) sign off from Facebook. A note to friends to let them know I am disappearing for weeks or months. I am a fan of FB in many ways but, like anything, it can become our master and we its servant, and breaking that dependency is a way to avoid addiction. To experience more of reality instead of observing second-hand.
I continued….
“There are a couple areas I will be focusing on in 2018.
I’m going to be spending more time writing this year. With that, I’m going to continue to develop workshops – like my ‘silence’ and ‘gratitude’ workshops this last year – to be shared at places like our public libraries, which serve all who wish to learn.
I will be working as well to simplify life in order to be less simplistic and more substantive. And getting out of the habit of FB is a good way to get started I think.
Jumping off FB gives both those a chance to breathe a little.
I am so grateful for your friendship.
The pilgrimage of life, traveling off the beaten path and back again to those well-beaten, stretches before us all.”
And then finished with au revoir, a rivederci, hasta la vista, Happy Trails…
…including the obligatory quotes that communicate so much better than I do.
“This I may say is the first time I have been at church in California, led here at last, every door graciously opened for the poor lonely worshiper (John Muir Atop Cathedral Peak, the first person to climb it)”
~John Muir, John Muir: In His Own Words, p. 14
“A journey of the spirit only starts with somewhere wondrous. It continues wherever we are, through the doors that wonder has opened.”
~Pico Iyer, 100 Journeys for the Spirit, 2010, p. 9
I will miss keeping up with the people I care for – their trials and triumphs, the role models they are for me and so many others – and will check back in with these precious ones.
Forgoing the rest of the FB hullabaloo will not be a sacrifice. For now, more quiet, less noise. More life-scuba diving, less skimming the surface.
Buh bye 2017, howdy 2018. May it be a trip.
The Profound Bartender 