I was reading an excerpt from Helen Keller's autobiography. Helen was having a conversation with a good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods. When Helen asked her what she had seen her friend replie d, "nothing in particular".

You can imagine that such a comment might have set Helen into a bit of a frenzy. Helen wrote: "How is it possible to walk for an hour and see nothing worthy of note? I cannot see,but I find hundreds of things that interest me. I feel the delicate patterns of a leaf. I pass my hand lovingly about the smooth skin of a birch. I touch the branches of tress in search of a bud. I feel the velvety texture of a flower. Occasionally, I place my hand on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in song." Helen went on to create an imaginary 3 days that she would be gifted with sight. She wrote about what she would choose to "see" during those three days that she would have sight.

Here is the first thing she wrote:

"I should like to see the people whose kindness and friendship have made my life worth living. First, I should gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher."

Helen writes a few pages about those 3 imaginary days of sight, and I have pulled out some pieces--they follow:

"I should like to call all my dear friends to me and watch their eyes and faces react to expressed thoughts and events.

I should also like to let my eyes rest on a baby. I wish to see the eager, innocent beauty.

I should like to look into the loyal trusting eyes of my dogs.

I want to see the warm colors in the rugs under my feet.

I should like to take a long walk in the woods. I should pray for the glory of a colorful sunset. I should arise to see the dawn.

I should go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here is unfolded the spirit people have expressed in their art. Oh, there is so much rich meaning and beauty in the art of the ages for you who have eyes to see!

I should spend an evening at the theater or at the movies. How I should like to see with my own eyes the actors moving gracefully or comically across the stage. I long to see the colorful costumes and scenery. I long to see how dancers move with rhythm and beauty.

The last day of sight I shall spend in New York City. I stand at a busy corner. I look at the people and try to understand something of their lives. I see smiles, and I am happy. I see serious determination, and I am proud, I see suffering, and I am compassionate. I stroll down Fifth Avenue. I see a seething mass of color. From Fifth Avenue I make a tour of the City. I see Park Avenue, I see the slums. I see factories, and parks where children play. My heart is full of the images of people and things. Some sights are pleasant. They fill my heart with happiness. Some sights are sad or ugly. To these I do not shut my eyes. They too, are part of life. To close the eye on them is to close the heart and mind. I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would become blind. Use your other senses the same way. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird as if you would be deaf tomorrow. Touch each object as if tomorrow the sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never taste or smell again. Make the most of every sense. Glory in the pleasure and beauty the world reveals to your through your senses. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight must be the most delightful!"

Helen's writing inspired me. The Zen Walk. The walk of mindfulness, of living completely and fully in the moment. Don't push away the beauty of the world that is accessed through the senses. Embrace life. Remember after a good meditation with Rama how the world sparkled. It does all the time.

So, take advice from Helen Keller, and live each moment in that mindset that embraces the richness of all of life. No thoughts, just pure awareness walking and "seeing". I would like to improve my ability to "see". Perhaps this exercise will help. How easy it is to take all that we have for granted. Just a reminder of the beauty of life and light.

Happy Holidays!
Lynne

 

 

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