I had one of those rare ‘at-one’ moments recently. You know the ones where you suddenly understand you’ve ‘arrived’. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, these moments can last a few minutes… a precious hour, maybe. But when they do come, they are wonderfully all-consumingly.
I often remind myself how lucky I am to have the people around me, friends, family, work colleagues, etc. but it’s different appreciating what one has theoretically, to those utterly silky moments of actually feeling it.
In those precious minutes, we’ll catch ourselves looking out of a window we’ve gazed through a thousand times, being stunned by the simple beauty of the world beyond. In those cherished seconds, calmness falls over us like a veil of tranquillity and we seem to understand the meaning of ‘being’.
Whilst sedated, principles seem inverted. Instead of us having to convince ourselves all is well while the world is hacking at us, we understand the world is fine, despite its faults, and at that moment, we’re at one with those imperfections.
Life could always be like this, we convince ourselves, but we know it won’t last. But for now, within our protective bubble of serenity, the world seems right, whole and complete.
I remind myself to remember this moment when the imperturbation of this tender calmness passes. Remind myself the world does have form and direction, despite (maybe especially) when the words, sounds and images we experience daily basis seem to belie this truth. We are all perfect… we’ve just forgotten how to be perfect.