Animal Smells

It's been a while since I've posted, but I got ill for a while, and then went on a meditation retreat, so haven't had time to write much.

It is amazing how a retreat will change ones perspective, not just of their immediate surroundings, but of all that is happening around them. I find that the burdens of life tend to make one forget the magic that seems to surround us everyday. The simple joy of seeing the sun shine through your bedroom window in the morning gets replaced with the depression of "having" to face another day. The smells around you, instead of being wonderous experiences, become "smelly stinky city life". This energy that surrounds us does not disappear... but we seem to not see it because of all the dross we heap on ourselves in day to day life.

Think about when you were a child, and that sense of wonder you possessed. Whatever happened to that? Then go to the circus with a child and watch the reactions. When you think of the "animal stink", the child might say "Oh boy! Animal smells!". The difference is in our perceptions, our sense of "now-ness", our letting go of preconceived notions and ideas.

Consider letting go of all those heaps of garbage and dross you have accumulated... at least for a moment... and sense the wonder of a child again. The world will be a better place for it...