Life in the Real or Modern World requires action and direction. Making a living is about doing: hunting for food, going to work, building nests and burrows, keeping house, teaching and feeding little ones. Living creatures of both worlds are up early and work all day long to sustain their livelihood. We all start the day pretty much the same way-- waking up, grooming, sometimes fussing with each other (squirrels are especially crabby risers)--("No, you cannot wear that tee shirt to school another day until it is washed!") before plunging headfirst into the waters of life.
Then around mid-morning a natural pause spreads out. The first flush of the day behind us, we often have a cup of coffee or stop to think about the order of what we will do next. It's the same in the animal world. The bird feeders are quiet, the woods become still. The squirrels doze on the tree branches and soak up the sun. We sip our coffee. We downshift in the lull from doing to being.
All my stirring becomes quiet
around me like circles on water.
My tasks lie in their places
where I left them, asleep like cattle.
These little moments, strung together with others of their kind are gifts. These are the joints of living because having them keeps us connected to ourselves.
Then what is afraid of me comes Then what I am afraid of comes.
and lives a while in my sight. I live for a while in its sight.
What it fears in me leaves me, What I fear in it leaves it,
and the fear of me leaves it. and the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song. It sings, and I hear its song.
After days of labor,
mute in my consternations,
I hear my song at last,
and I sing it. As we sing,
the day turns, the trees move.
Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir
