Meditation

Often on weekends, I am the first to wake up and come into the kitchen. A plan for the day starts to form as the coffee kicks in - starting out nebulous and then shaping into something real. Last Sunday, I found myself making a batch of muffins. While they baked I unloaded the dishwasher and for a good twenty minutes my mind was nearly empty. The aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg filled the kitchen, I noticed that the coffee was weak and the silence complete - no birdsong no barking dog next door. 

I don't know if this counts as mindfulness but it was deeply relaxing - putting the dishes away, cleaning the counter top and not needing to have a plan. But the feeling of stillness inside reminded me of lines from a William Blake poem that I first read in high school 

To see a world in a grain of sand 
And a Heaven in a wild flower, 
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour.

Later in the morning when J woke up she was surprised by what was for breakfast. I made her happy in a small and unexpected way. Later we baked a second batch of muffins together - a relaxing time for both of us. The day may have shaped up very differently if I had not been able to get that quiet early morning time to myself, unhurried to accomplish anything particular.