We are in the middle of an incredible heat wave in Seattle. Yesterday we shattered our all-time high of 100 degrees with a reading of 103. Those of you who live in climates where 103 is not a big deal may be wondering why I am bothering to write about all this. But you have to understand, Seattleites are used to a temperate marine climate. We don’t do snow in the winter and we don’t do heat waves in the summer.
As I observe myself, my neighbors and people I meet during the day, one thing becomes very obvious – we are not very good with just accepting the weather as it is. We rush to the store to buy as many fans and air conditioners as possible without thinking that maybe if we just bought one or two that would leave more for other people. We consistently focus on every degree the thermometer rises and then ramp up our complaining to match the rise in temperature. We have an insistent need to be comfortable at any expense which I believe relates directly to the need for instant gratification. We don’t like what we can’t fix or change and the weather is something that even the most brilliant of people can’t control.
There is a Zen saying which goes: When it is cold we shiver and when it is hot we sweat. I have been thinking a lot about that saying this week. I work out of our house and we don’t have air conditioning – just one little fan which is blowing on me as I write. I started the week thinking that I wouldn’t be able to get much work done because it was so hot – yet I soon realized that this was just a story. There was no reason I couldn’t work; and in fact, I have had a very productive week even though I have been very hot and have been sweating profusely! But every now and then I go outside and douse myself with the hose. It’s kind of fun. I feel like a kid having a summer time adventure.
There is no doubt that I will be glad when this heat wave breaks and we get back to a more typical Seattle summer. But as with all bumps in the road, this has been a great opportunity to watch what stories come up about I can and cannot do when things are not exactly the way I want them and then to observe whether I challenge these voices and stories or blindly follow their word as the truth.
The mind is everything. What you think, you become. Buddha
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1 comment:
Thanks Maryann for this insightful and timely post! I have been noticing some of the same things - my absurd internal arguments about the heat. But over the last couple of days I've discovered that I *can* indeed live with it, and it is kind of fun to walk around my house spraying myself with a spray bottle. I feel proud of being willing to accept and flow with what comes, be it sweating or shivering. Also loved the mexican fisherman story!
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