The Cow-dripper Sprouts
July 1–6, Amherst, MA USA
Seasonal Memoir #12
Solvitur ambulando … It is solved by walking
Slip on comfortable shoes. Or even better, wear something that allows you to feel the ground under your feet. Choose a general direction, while not striving to get anywhere in particular. Start moving, one foot in front of the other, with no urgency. It is the act of going nowhere, and in no hurry, that starts you on the path to figuring things out.
Let thoughts, emotions, feelings, and bodily sensations arise, but leave alone any analyzing or ruminating. Simply notice them, with curiosity and with kindness, and without judgment. Pause to notice what’s in front of you, like the red sky sunset, or the fireflies beginning their dance, or a static storm cloud in the distance. Then let them fade away and keep open your field of awareness. Presence. Peace.
What makes you happy? A great question asked by my wife on our walk tonight. My first impulse was to list things like exercise, good food and drink, a well-timed nap, play, something funny, a good bowel movement (let’s be honest). But before I answered, I realized that these in fact are not things that make me happy, but rather, these are pleasurable things. They are things that each of us go back to the well for every day, gaining delight and the resulting endorphins. But each sensual pleasure is fleeting, which is why we keep returning. There is a lesson there.
So what makes me happy, then? Feeling connected to my wife. Enjoying a family hike, with lots of laughs. Seeing friends. Watching colleagues be successful. Observing strangers enjoy each other’s company. Connection. Contribution. Meaning. Purpose. Knowing that something is in fact wisdom.
Tomorrow, I will play golf with two former colleagues from Needham, Steve Theall and Joe Barnes. Both were instrumental in the success I achieved in a tumultuous leadership tenure at the high school. A few years ago, Steve, in his 70s, started an annual golf outing at the local club, and like clockwork in July, he sends out the email to secure the date. The golf is usually shaky, but the sentiment behind the effort, and the continued mentorship from them both are priceless, and a reminder of how blessed I am to have two such class acts in my life, even if it’s just one day a year that our paths cross.
