In Process
I read about the Navajo and their Nizhoni….the way of beauty. It is a life-style that says how we live is more important than what we produce. Imagine that.
I work toward outcomes.
I need measurables.
I set goals and objectives and I want to see results.
That’s what they told me, anyway. So many years ago when my young mind was being molded and my skills were being honed. They put me on their conveyor belt of knowledge that said the end is the means.
I have spent a chunk of life believing this rhetoric, living this system, anticipating their end.
Problem is….I got to the end and it’s not so pretty.
I keep looking back wishing I’d given more attention to the moments…each delicate and intimate moment that passed. I wish I’d noticed the people more. I wish I had listened their stories. I wish I had a story that said I am more than the end of my days.
That is why I began reading about the Navajo and their intentional style of living.
I am impressed with the notion that each moment of life is It. It is all you have.
And It holds all that came before and all that goes ahead.
It is a definition of the one who holds It.
For a Navajo It involves being who one is…wholly. Compassionate, moral, dedicated, and beautiful. It means honoring those who brought you to the now. And It means honoring those will come after.
It is more caught up in the herding of the sheep than the market value per head
It is more caught up in the sheering of the animals than the price per pound of wool.
It is more caught up in the weaving of the blanket than the item when it’s finished.
It is celebrating the first laugh of a baby, calling all the friends – many of whom happen to be family – together to honor that very moment when life has been known and appreciated and loved by the most tender among us.
I am in awe of this Nizhoni, this way of beauty. I have breath and life and moments remaining in me. I am giving myself over to a new way of being.
I am no longer content to be measured by....any system of measure.
I am so much more.
Right now.
Right this very moment.
I work toward outcomes.
I need measurables.
I set goals and objectives and I want to see results.
That’s what they told me, anyway. So many years ago when my young mind was being molded and my skills were being honed. They put me on their conveyor belt of knowledge that said the end is the means.
I have spent a chunk of life believing this rhetoric, living this system, anticipating their end.
Problem is….I got to the end and it’s not so pretty.
I keep looking back wishing I’d given more attention to the moments…each delicate and intimate moment that passed. I wish I’d noticed the people more. I wish I had listened their stories. I wish I had a story that said I am more than the end of my days.
That is why I began reading about the Navajo and their intentional style of living.
I am impressed with the notion that each moment of life is It. It is all you have.
And It holds all that came before and all that goes ahead.
It is a definition of the one who holds It.
For a Navajo It involves being who one is…wholly. Compassionate, moral, dedicated, and beautiful. It means honoring those who brought you to the now. And It means honoring those will come after.
It is more caught up in the herding of the sheep than the market value per head
It is more caught up in the sheering of the animals than the price per pound of wool.
It is more caught up in the weaving of the blanket than the item when it’s finished.
It is celebrating the first laugh of a baby, calling all the friends – many of whom happen to be family – together to honor that very moment when life has been known and appreciated and loved by the most tender among us.
I am in awe of this Nizhoni, this way of beauty. I have breath and life and moments remaining in me. I am giving myself over to a new way of being.
I am no longer content to be measured by....any system of measure.
I am so much more.
Right now.
Right this very moment.
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