Page 11 - Hawaii Island Midweek - Aug 25 2021

with Marcia Zina Mager
One morning, while walking my dog Zoey in the valley
A group of noisy parrots startled me out of my dark thoughts. Landing high in the tree above me, their bright green and red feathers shim- mered in the morning sun. Something powerful swept over me. My mind quieted. I looked up at the crystal clear blue sky. I listened to the sing- song chatter of the birds. And as strange as it sounds, I felt, in that instant, that everything was fine.
Remembering Who I Really Am
“Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence.” — Rumi, 13th century Sufi poet
When I remind myself to look more deeply, listen more deeply and notice the world around me, my busy unfor- giving mind quiets; the shrill background song of I-am- never-enough falls away. And something utterly immeasur- able arises. A peacefulness. A stillness. A glimpse into what’s possible. An awareness that maybe, just maybe, life is good and I am, in the end, enough.
Marcia Zina Mager is an in- ternational author, playwright, award-winning poet and per- former. Visit her at marciazin- amager.com.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Robin Stephens Rohr and Lynne Johnson.
AUGUST 25, 2021
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 11
Why can’t you work harder? Why can’t you do more and be like everyone else?
remembering that moment in the valley; and suddenly I pop out of that familiar whirlwind of thinking that tells me I’m not doing enough or being enough. That’s when I notice the eve- ning sky, the crescent moon, the flock of egrets overhead. I notice the comforting sound of children laughing and dogs barking.
behind my house, something happened that would change my life. It was a beautiful Mil- ilani day, but I couldn’t see it because my mind kept shout- ing: The mortgage is due! The house is a mess! You didn’t complete those projects!
That simple moment walk- ing Zoey gave me something priceless, something that has transformed this crazy year of pandemic isolation and global upheaval. That something is this: Life is everywhere. Na- ture is everywhere. The sun keeps shining. The birds keep singing. Families ride by on bicycles.
Overwhelmed, I sat down on the grass. Zoey bounded past me, happily sniffing a tree. But my mind wouldn’t cease: Why can’t you make more money?
That experience has stayed with me. Ever since then, whenever I walk my dog or step outside to get the mail or empty the trash, I find myself
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