Making Time to Blog...?!

Two-thirds into so many wonderful texts, the parent voice will pop up in my head.

Great spiritual leaders discuss concentration and mindfulness. Pay attention to the here and now. Focus solely on what you are doing; you will do it better and be rested and happy. When you are drinking your tea, do not be thinking ahead to the next day, or back to the past; be right there, drinking your tea.

Now, I am enormously grateful for the strength and wisdom I have gained from these leaders. But it is at point that I can't help but think: If I were entirely present in the here and now, all the time, my children would have no place to go after school. Their teeth would be rotten, they would have no lunch, etc.

Let's face it. It's just different for parents.

The other day I got up early and was meditating. Five minutes in, my daughter bounded down the stairs, ready for school. She saw me sitting quiet, and, knowing what I was doing, she crept into the kitchen and poured herself some cereal.

But even in this very best of situations, my meditating was done for the day. So imagine practicing when they have gotten up late, the bus is coming, they need to get to bed, we need to leave for a concert....any of the minutae that make up life. The thought just made me smile.

Recently my daughters and I went to a retreat with Thich Nhat Hahn. We returned home rested and restored, after a week of listening to dharma talks with Thay and enjoying the company of like-minded people and parents. Yet I felt there, yet again, the chasm between the main points of the teachings and the daily demands of life as a parent.

But I was also reminded of the power of others to support and sustain you.

I returned home to start going again to my own sangha, a small group that meets here in Connecticut every few weeks. But as I perused my local political blogs this morning, I was finally prompted to start one. If nothing else, we can share thoughts and strategies on work, family, and self.

The answer, it seems to me when I think about it, always begins with: look deeply. Think about it, don't let the strong emotion overwhelm you, be there for your kids when they need to express their anger and pain, and don't get caught into the cycle of argument and blame and right and wrong.

It's all there, really, in the teachings - it's just more challenging to apply as a parent.

(And at THIS point, my monkey mind interjects, usually with a smile, Maybe this is why the Buddha was a single, childless prince.)

Metta!