I was looking at an age spot on my forearm the other day and wondered whether I should get a tattoo to cover or incorporate it. “Something small and modest, but with meaning,” I thought. “Something that would not admit to the original reason. Perhaps a realistic version of the smallest of butterflies.” Then I thought without any apparent trigger, “what about a firefly?” When they are not lit up, they look like the kind of bug we would swat at or try to avoid, but at night, when the firefly glows, it is magic.
How many things are there that seem ordinary or even distasteful until we open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to see their full and true essence?
I do not know whether I will get the tattoo. But I hope that those that can (those with backyards) will take a few simple steps to make a home for some fireflies.
I was not able to go to the Washington, DC event for Global Mala Day because I am scheduled to do my regular volunteer work. I did, however, include the focus of this call for a unified, intentional offering in my morning meditation and asana practice.
Do join in, remembering to celebrate yourself as part of the community however and whatever your offering. Be mindful of your body and energy as you choose a practice to be sure that the repetition of 108 will serve rather than deplete.
Although incorporation of practice (and the mindset of making everything a dedicated practice) ideally becomes routine, actually practicing should be a never routine, freshly curious, heartfelt engagement. In that regard, I try not to get inured to seeing the signs in the neighborhood.
Perhaps I would find more credibility in the map if the well-meaning creators of the “U.S. Peace Index” recognized that real human beings who wish to live in peace and who are U.S. citizens reside in the District of Columbia (though perhaps they are not included because local governance of the citizens of the District are subject to the whims and opinions of elected officials from both the most and least peaceful of states and thus are governed by the whole map). It is of interest nonetheless.
