Bring the image of a snow globe into your mind and see the snowflakes swirling around in a flurry. It might be an easy image for those folks living in the Midwest and Northeast of the United States as we sit in the deep snows of winter. This past week I had this image as I came into contact with hundreds of tennis players who checked in for matches at our annual, ASICS World Tennis Classic event. Some were calm but many were in this pre-match state of heightened nervousness, as if they each were their own snow globe that had been madly shaken.
All of us live in our own worlds which are often much like an agitated snow globe. In our culture it’s common to have constant motion with people being incredibly scheduled so much so that at times our own snow globes seem to generate their own scene of white out inside. We can’t see what’s below the agitation because the activity spreads a layer over everything. We become unconscious of what’s driving us from a deeper level. And you can sense the level of agitation by watching people’s energy and movement. It appears as though most of us have some type of movement nearly all of the time. Our flakes are active, often softly floating about and at times, completely a-buzz.
I had this experience the first two days of the tennis tournament. I felt a bit cranky and short on patience. I was missing my desired state of Zen coolness, recognizing that small things seemed to be bothering me more than was warranted. My snow globe had been shaken.
It wasn’t until the next morning, when I finally sat quietly in stillness during my meditation did I realize WHY I was agitated. It dawned on me that although I had much happening, minor but constant earthquakes, it wasn’t until I sat still did I have insight and clarity. It was the sitting still, the settling of the snowflakes where I was able to uncover what had been triggering me and in doing so, I was able to shift from a state of being bothered into a state of looking at things from a more loving-kindness perspective.
When I got to the tournament desk that morning, I saw with fresh eyes and could recognize the generosity, noble intent and enthusiasm of the many faces surrounding me. My snow globe offered a new landscape and although it had many moments of action and agitation throughout the week, insight and clarity were available when I let the snow settle.
If we expand this image, it’s in moments of being quiet where we have the greatest transformative realizations. How often during your day do you pull your focus to your inner landscape away from the outward focus of daily living? It’ s in the regular practice of coming to our center that we can navigate the rocky and prickly moments with greater ease and grace. Without my meditation practice I might have stayed with the cranky energy throughout the week which ultimately wouldn’t have served me or those around me. It basically made it a more enjoyable experience from many perspectives.
Let it snow…let it snow…let it snow. And then enjoy the white pristine stillness of such inner and outer beauty.
