I don’t know about you, but I often find that I can get so caught up in the details of my everydays that I lose sight of the bigger picture – the larger sweep of this life that I’m living. It’s important to remember the things on my “To Do” list and to tick them off as I go along - but there’s more to each moment than tasks and accomplishments! I’m always happy when I discover small ways that I can weave meaning into small, daily moments. So here’s one I’d like to share:
Every day … every twelve hours, in fact … our clocks run through an entire calendar year of dates. (Bear with me here.) Right now, I glance at my watch and it reads 10:10 PM. Translating that into a date, it’s October 10th … and that’s my paternal grandmother’s birthday. I pause and think of her. She died in 1975, when I was just six months out of college – and here I am thinking of her on a December night in New Hampshire in 2007. I like that.
Yesterday as I was driving to town I noticed that my digital clock read 12:19 PM and my thoughts turned to my father, who died suddely on 12/19/94. I think of him often, still. And I ALWAYS do when I notice that time on my clock dial. The emotions that accompany the thought are ever-changing. I like that.
This is an unobtrusive way of touching on meaning, on your history, on important people and events in your life … even as you focus on accomplishing tasks. It can be as cursory or as feeling-laden as you want it to be. Sometimes an anniversary date might pull you up short. More often it’s a nice reminder or a warm, fleeting thought.
Think about it … the next time you glance at your digital clock!
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Tags: anniversary, clock, comtemplate, comtemplative tool, digital clock, history, meaning, remembering
