Keeping our bearings...

I was recently sitting by a swimming pool in Maui where I was on a working holiday with my family. It was about 10:00 at night, the stars were out and a gentle trade wind was blowing. I had earlier been on the beach well after a spectacular sunset and had marveled at the clarity and abundance of the stars that were in the evening sky. As I sat by that pool I again looked up. The stars I saw on the beach were dimmed, and in some instances not visible at all. Of course, the stars were all still present. All that had changed was that I was attempting to view them through the ambient light coming from the pool deck and the pool itself. If I was a sailor attempting to use the stars to guide my way this ambient light could be a real problem.

This struck me as a wonderful metaphor for our busy lives today. When and how does the ambient life of our lives prevent us from seeing what we need to see in order to keep our lives on course? Are we even aware of when we are blinded by the ambient light in our lives? More importantly, what practices have we developed to allow us to step away from the ambient light in our lives – practices that enable us to see our stars in order to make sure we are, more or less, on course?

Raising the kids, balance between work and family, money worries, next quarter’s results, fears of disappointing someone significant. These are only some examples of what could be deemed the ambient light of life. These things aren’t going to go away and we put our ideals at considerable risk when are blinded by the unique “ambient light” that makes up much of our worldview. Being able to mindfully step away from (not leave behind) the ambient light in our lives in order to better see our guiding stars is a practice well worth developing. Quieting the internal voice that forces attention to the ambient light is a very useful way to approach this notion. I use a variety of meditation practices – sitting, walking, running – to quiet the voices of my ambient light in order to keep the stars of my ideals in view. Developing this practice is not easy – there have been many false starts. Knowing what keeping my ideals in view makes possible is the “for the sake of what?” that enables me to sustain the practice.

For the sake of what do your ideals exist? What practice(s) have you developed or could you develop that helps you keep your bearings as you move through the enormous complexities of modern life – the ambient life that keeps what’s truly important in view?