The Doors of Perception

One of the first insights I have gotten from my Month of Living Mindfully is that it is so easy to slip into automatic pilot mode.

I have chosen for my first week to bring awareness to bear every time I open a door, and I am amazed at how much I take this activity for granted, and how easy it is to completely miss the moment. AND... When I am mindful of it, I become aware of how much of a transitional moment it actually is. I'm not just talking about putting a key in a lock or turning a doorknob, but the movement from one space into another and the subtle changes of context that we may pick up on some super-sensory level, but of which we may not be consciously aware.

For example, I'm really savoring the experience of feeling how the air changes from one room to another, or more dramatically, from outdoors to indoors and back again. I have begun to look forward with giddy excitement to these transitional moments. Which begs the question: If I can get this much out of opening a door or two, what else have I been missing in my daily life?

The Breeze at Dawn by Rumi:

The breeze at dawn
has secrets to tell you.

Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask
for what you really want.

Don't go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth
across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.

Don't go back to sleep.

Blessings,
Roger