Finding Balance

Checking In

I think of my mind as a tyrant,
a scold that insists I must

      Clean up the kitchen
          before romping with the dog
      Pull weeds in the garden
          before watching the sun set
      Read classic literature
          before diving into a mystery
      Eat cruciferous vegetables
          before indulging in ice cream

When it occurred to me to ask
my mind how it is doing, it said:

                      I’m tired.

         Can you please let body
  and soul sit in the driver’s seat
                  for a while?

I wrote this poem after participating in a “focusing” exercise at a Souljourners spiritual direction training residency. Yesterday, I had an experience of allowing my body to sit in the driver’s seat for a while. Here’s what happened:

I went outside to take a photo of a sunflower. I noticed that the flower bed needed weeding, so I did that. I then went to shake Japanese beetles off the rose of Sharon bushes to feed to the chickens, and noticed that a a nearby tree and bush needed to be trimmed back. As I pruned away, the work my body was doing led me to notice the desire to prune away some of my possessions that are no longer life-giving. An hour later, as the humidity increased to an uncomfortable level and my back started to protest this unanticipated labor, I stopped and headed inside to clean up.

Most of us are inclined to operate out of our head, but letting the body and soul take the lead now and then can offer fresh perspectives and new insights and lead to better physical and spiritual health as well. I believe the mind is inclined to agree, as the poem indicates!