a life in...

at my meditation group last night, we were talking about articles we’d read that relate to the meditation practice or spirituality or simply how to get through one’s day.

one of the women in the group mentioned this article about baths as meditative undertakings. basically, if one is trying to live a mindful life, then the process of disrobing, bathing, stepping out of the tub, drying off and getting dressed again (or not) should be viewed as an opportunity for being present. that one should be fully engaged in this activity that, normally, we all perform on auto-pilot. i mean, when was the last time you really and truly paid attention to your bathing – and ONLY your bathing – while you were in the shower? not thinking about work, or family, or that argument you had earlier, or that event you have to go to in a few days, or what you’’ll make for dinner, or where you can pick up those socks you need, or countless other things that float around in your head on any given day. just being fully there, alone in your shower.

it’s a great practice if you can manage it. shut the world out for a short while. i, for one, am never able to do it for more than about eight seconds at a time. though, i am learning to pay closer attention to the times when i’m not paying attention.

but i digress...

towards the end of that linked article, the author suggests that a person could write their autobiography based on important or memorable baths in his or her life.

and that concept sparked discussion in our meditation group. i thought it was a brilliant idea – using some sort of key task or object or theme and writing one’s life story around it. it wouldn’t have to be baths, it could be anything that’s repeated at different times, on different occasions, with different meaning and different feelings.

the group tossed out ideas: a life as told through beds. or houses. or kitchens. or breakfasts. or weddings. or schools. or shoes. or jobs. or cakes (my contribution, thankyouverymuch).

eventually, we moved on to other topics and other readings, but my mind stayed stuck on this autobiographical idea. i really like it. using baths as a touchstone wouldn’t necessarily work for me, because – though i’ve had some great baths – i’m mostly a shower girl and the bathing process hasn’t been a marker, per se. but the bigger-picture concept... i just love it, and from it a wealth of writing projects could spring. the thinking cap is on.

so, at some point, i’ll decide on an object and get to writing. not sure what it’ll be yet (it may very well wind up being cake), but i’m kind of excited about the process as a whole.