Because it is fresh as potent growth experience for me, I decided to write about the concept of contrast. As a noun, contrast is defined as:
”The state of being strikingly different from something else, typically something in juxtaposition or close association.”
As a verb, “Differ strikingly.”
So, why am I thinking about it? Well, I gotta say:
1) After recently fasting for 19 days between sunrise and sunset, (described in previous post) now that I can remain hydrated and energized with food during the day, I find a deeper level of gratitude for the alertness and energy eating and drinking provides, not to mention a deeper appreciation for the taste, texture and periodic pauses it offers. At the same time, because “the fast” specifically is no longer a daily spiritual practice, in contrast of it’s absence, it requires my added attentiveness to maintain a heightened spiritual attention to the moments of my daily life.
2) One weekend a month, I provide care giving services for two young ladies that I love dearly and whose family I love dearly, that require 24 hour care to lift, dress, feed, provide personal hygiene, massage, chi machine, etc…. It is both physically intensive and has provided me great opportunity for personal and spiritual growth. How it relates to contrast, is multi-fold and multi-dimensional. A) On a multi-fold note, after working one 7 hour and (2) 12 hour shifts in a row this past weekend, on a day like today (Monday), when I do not have to get up at 6:45 to be there by 7:30 am – 7:30 pm, and I get to rest a full night’s sleep and then rejuvinate with a morning routine of yoga, meditation, prayer and exercise, without the non-stop physical exertion of care giving, the contrast of this day is like heaven. B) On the flip and multi-dimensional side, while I am working with “the girls” as they are lovingly named by their parents, I am so profoundly blessed to know them and have the opportunity to serve them, not only because of who they are, but because of how much I learn from them in the contrast of their physical disability about their spiritual “ability” such as purity of heart, patience, forbearance, sacrifice, service, love, compassion, mirrors of spiritual reality of life. Likewise, as someone who can walk, talk, exercise, feed myself, bathe myself, lift myself, etc…I am also reminded in the gift of their relationship to be grateful for these common every day activities that I can perform on my own.
3) Now that it is Spring, even though it is still in the 20’s/30’s here in Minnesota, the contrast of the weather having been 10’s-20’s as recently as yesterday, with full-on icy streets and sidewalks, TODAY, this Monday, I was able to run outside with only a couple of icy detours for the first time in week’s, the contrast of which added another layer of joy to my already joyful day.
4) I recently worked on a project with a person who is very different from me and can be difficult to work with. The contrast of our opposing styles has definitely not been easy in our relationship and at the same time, through both our willingness to be true to ourselves and responsible for our part that creates challenge for the other, it has led to a healthier, more respectful relationship than had we not walked forward into our difference together. A story in and of itself, suffice it to say, although I am now still me, and she she, we have found a higher ground in our relationship together.
So, although further examples of how contrast has catapulted my appreciation, presence, connectedness, and joy in the moments of my life abound, for today, I simply notice and hold the question of whether contrast is spiritually intended for us to amplify our perceptions, our gratitudes, our presence… or if it simply just is, and up to the perceiver to decide for themselves how it serves them.
For me, although I find that contrast is sometimes not easy at all, I also find that it consistently offers me an opportunity to deepen or improve some aspect of myself. So, my friend contrast, I thank you and see you and wonder how you will next show yourself to me.
