SEPTEMBER 23
Great peace is found in little busyness.
—CHAUCERSuch a monumental event has occurred. Our response to it
is so total; we are devastated.
What can we do, faced as we are with this tidal wave of
feeling and change?
Nothing big. Nothing monumental.
At first we will do what is required of us: make arrange-
ments, plan services, greet our friends, think about food and
lodging for people who may have come from out of town.
But when all that is over—then what?
First, rest. And then, find things to do.
It will be no problem, finding things to do. The effort will
be doing them. They may seem futile—why sew on a button
when my world has fallen apart? Why rake the leaves when
the future looks bleak and I don’t care about the lawn?
But as we begin to busy ourselves—in small, productive
tasks—we will find some of our free-floating confusion and
sorrow being absorbed, like water into a sponge, into the
task we are performing. We will begin to think in terms of
what we might want to do next, maybe even make some
new plans for the future. Our hearts will grow lighter; our
steps will quicken. A yes to life, after all.
Today I will do one “optional” thing.