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The Practical Art of Self-Reflection
It has been my recent experience that reflecting on one’s own behavioral tendencies is similar to listening alone in the dark to insistent jangly, sounds in a dark early morning dawn. It takes pausing deeply and an awareness tinged with a bit of wonder. An aquired conditioning to not letting the mind run in emotional reaction or expansion.
I awoke today to little odd, jingling, sounds. First thoughts were, “Where was it coming from? Was it outside the window? Was it in the house? “ This larger scope brought in more refinement. Hearing that it was inside, I tracked the sound to the stove. Then to the oven.
The rooster crowed outside as soon as I discovered the source. Ah! Now I know that I have an uninvited visitor that I can send home. I could then take action as I narrowed the source of the sound down silently and patiently. I was trying to stay calm and open to listening.
I cracked opened the oven door. A tiny little mouse looked up at me. I felt releived that it was just a cute animal much like my pet gerbil Peanut, that I had when a child and not a huge rat that I had imagined from the way it sounded. I went to find a wooden spoon and put a tiny piece of buffalo feta on it. But it ran out a hole in the back and out the open door.
This early morning episode is very similar to a thought process I took when someone dear was…
