Vacation Dialogue: Lights, Ruins, Flowers, and Glasses

One of the filters that we seem to apply to ourselves and others is the duality of Optimism and Pessimism.  There are numerous personality tests and questions that draw our attention to a conclusion of how life is experienced: either with hope and optimism or with despair and pessimism.  Have you ever been shown a glass with water and been asked: "Is this glass half-full or half-empty?"

Is this glass half-full or half-empty?

Even though I usually answer the question - with hesitation, thinking I will be judged by my answer, I have noticed that there is a more basic reality than the question asked and the choices given.  After all, the facts are: there is a glass and there is water in the glass!  Why am I being asked to take sides, interpret, conclude or make a choice that seemingly projects my worldview?  It feels too confining when I am boxed in.  Do you feel that way too?

How would you describe these lights: on or off?

I pondered these questions on my recent vacation: looking at light fixtures at hotels we were passing through; being aware of time at a monastery in Belgium; soaking in the beauty of a garden in France; and having a beer with a friend.

Our Luxembourg hotel had an array of light globes hanging from the lobby ceiling.  Like glasses and water, we sometimes think of electricity in dualistic terms: are the lights On or Off?  But in this lobby each orb cast off different degrees of light due to the different designs of the globes.  If pushed into the duality presented, I would conclude that lights can only be On or Off, but really... what about dimmer switches that allow gradients of differentiation between being Fully-On or Fully-Off?!  The globe design and the controller switch affect the question and the answer!  In other words, why not ask a fuller question, moving away from duality?
 

Are you focused on past or future?

Touring the grounds of the Orval Abbey, we encountered the ruins of the earlier monastery and a wall separating us from the current monastery.  Placards described the monastic life, then and now, and how the earlier monasteries had been destroyed by several fires.  As I peered through one of the arches of the earlier monastery, my mind wandered: wondering about the monks of centuries-before, how different life may be now, and where our society is headed in terms of religion and spirituality.  The trees and landscape beyond the arch allowed me to glimpse briefly the continuity and overlapping natures of time: living in the present, reliving past memories, and imagining the future.  Where do we live most of the time: locked in our historical frame of reference; worried about the future; or in the present?

What splendor!  Now... and when not in bloom!

Cherbourg's Public Garden was ablaze with blooming azaleas and other spring-time plants.  Reflecting on this beauty, I wondered how often I might notice plants when they are in bloom but unconsciously dismiss them at other times of the year.  From this, I wondered how often I don't pay attention to the people around me?  I was reminded that beauty surrounds me each moment... if I would just notice!

Maybe our focus is on the glass, the beverage, and listening

Which brings me to the outdoor cafe in Delft, Belgium, enjoying a beer with a friend, and talking about the sites we had discovered that morning.  I don't know if we focused on whether our beer steins were half-empty or half-full!  Instead, we focused on the sacred container of friendship and the wonderful experiences poured into our lives!

I would offer a suggestion for this week's reflection:

• Rather than focusing on the past or years-gone-by (half-empty); and,
• Rather than imagining what the future might be (half-full); instead,
• Let us focus on the presence of each other (the glass, the beverage, and the time with a loved one, colleague, or new acquaintance).

In the words of some of our friends around the world:

Cheers, Fisehatak, Gan bei , Kampai, L'Chaim, Na zdorovje, Prost, Santé, Salute, Salud, Skaal, Sláinte... as your week begins!

Larry Gardepie