Rainy Day Respite

It's a rainy day in late August. Despite the fact that there is much I had hoped to accomplish today, I find it important in this moment to just sit here sipping my tea. The raindrops slipping down my window in their slow, steady way remind me that not everything needs to happen quickly.

Sometimes I need an excuse, like the rain, to stop, to sit, to rest a bit. It seems strange that I often don't just give that gift of time to myself. Some of us need the choice to be wrested from our hands before finally breathing a sigh of relief and pausing our frantic busy-ness.

I meditate each day and have been for years now. The funny thing, though, is how some days I hear the ending gong of my meditation exercise only to realize I have been thinking of other things the entire time. It is really difficult to slow ourselves down, and even if we manage to stop the outer activity for awhile, our brains tend to keep right on plowing ahead with thoughts, plans and worries.

With the rain, I give myself permission to read a little longer than usual, getting caught up in the world of my latest book. Joseph Campbell once said reading a book for pleasure is like giving the mind a much-needed vacation. I wholeheartedly agree. Some of us have minds that are too busy to relax on their own. Reading gives our persistently anxious minds a chance to rest. For me, reading is a cozy rainy day for the mind.