“One morning spent in silence, an evening at a yoga workshop, an our of quiet prayer at an empty church, an afternoon of mediation, or a weekend retreat–an we we rediscover, re-experience, the truth of our lives and the roles we want to play in them.”

-Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat:  Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga

Day 26 – Even though I go through a series of ministrations to arrive at work each day, I tend to forget that there is only really one moment to be present and I attend to all the various items required to get my day started.  As this school year retires into summer, I feel and probably am more behind than ever, and I think the students feel exactly the same.  Rolf describes yoga students in this way, writing that they “tend to show up to class having forgotten that the present moment exists and that everything they are looking for is contained within it.”  And, as such, our lives “have become a search for something [we]…can never find because [we]…are looking in the wrong place.”  Rolf uses the word:  jaded.

It has been said that it is better to be an enthusiastic amateur than a jaded professional.  As a teacher, the summer is a time to reset, reset, reset, and to find one’s self again.  It is perfectly scary for me to think I have no job this summer teaching, but it may be what I need.  Perhaps I need to spend my days cleaning house, learning something new, reading lots of books, and working in the garden.  The enthusiastic amateur shows up to whatever life throws her.