My Dewdrop Moment

I’ve just had a moment of enlightenment.

I went and took a shower after my last post and a couple of comments, was wanting to get my writing mood going but I’ve decided that I’m infinity too tired to work in the realm of fantasy and drama tonight. Anyway…

So, I’d finished my shower and here I am just standing there, preparing myself to open the current and tough out the cool air of the bathroom beyond when a single droplet of water caught my attention. It was hanging off the end of a razor in the little shower caddy thing.

My first thoughts drifted to some reading I’ve been doing about Zen philosophies and dewdrops but as I stood there thinking and watching this single drop of water several things occurred at once.

Inside this single drop were several other drops. It wasn’t falling though, at least not yet. The drop next to it fell after a moment or two of water collecting, and collecting, and collecting. It was just too much and the poor thing couldn’t hold on any longer. It hit the bathtub with a light ‘thwip’ sound.

The drop that had caught my attention hadn’t fallen though. It reminded me of a question I’ve had about how I’ve been able to handle all this stress up till now and how the tiniest things are bugging me at the moment. I’m like that drop I realized.

I’ve been hanging around collecting water for ages, sitting on the edge of my own proverbial razor, watching the other drops around me fall. I sit, and I sit, and sit, but I don’t fall. Now I’ve collected so much water I either need to let go of some or I’ll be hitting something with a ‘thwip’ next.

I continue to stare a the drop for a few moments more. The more I look the more I’m convinced it’s going to fall but it doesn’t. Other drops do but not this one even though slowly it’s collecting more water. I know it will eventually fall but I’m content to think that after it does it won’t have to hang on quite as tight anymore. It’ll go down the drain and join the sewage ocean of other drops that go wherever they go before returning to their position in some other shower or another such place where they hang on once again until they fall and let everything go. It’s a cycle.

This means the only reason I’m freaking out so badly is because this is just the first turn. I’m not used to falling yet, it scares me, but after I do I’ll be fine. I’ll let go of a lot of stuff, perhaps go splat on the floor and cry a but, but in the end it’ll be a good thing.

I left the shower before I could see the drop fall. I wanted to keep the image in my head and let the moment live on in my soul where such a simple thing has found a way to touch me so deeply.

And lastly for this post, a small part of the Tao that touched me tonight as well as some Zen.

Because she competes with no one,
no one can compete with her.

-End part of the Ch. 66 the Tao Te Ching

This next bit really made me smile today. Below is one of the four noble truths of Zen Buddhism but the wording has been modified for both children and adults. This version seems more positive than others I’ve read so it’s the one I’ll share.

Sometimes peace is interrupted. We experience pain or dissatisfaction. This happens to all beings, all the time!

-First of the four noble truths provided by this blog.

Alright I think I’m done posting for tonight. Peace and blessed be.

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