I recently joined a writer's network here on Hilton Head Island and went to a meeting where attendees are invited to read some of their work to the group for some constructive criticism. Everything I heard was impressive but I was struck by the reading of one particular story.
One of the writers in the group compiles vignettes based upon his life work as a trash collector on the beaches. I'll attempt to get permission to share some of his work here in the future but a particular story he read this week involved a brief discussion he had with a handyman that often serviced the maintenance requests of beach-front condos.
The handyman asked the trash collector, "Do you know the reason for my most frequent service call? Out of all the maintenance requests I receive from these $10,000-per-week resorts, the number one compaint by far is to fix a television that does not work."
I thought this to be a powerful observation. Although not surprising, the outside world maintains such a strong grip on most people (wealthy or not) that being even a few steps from nature--having in one's possession the rare opportunity to turn down the noise of a false reality and tune into the authentic Self--many of us still choose to remain connected to an illusion at the expense of remaining disconnected from the truth of inner richness.
"I do not know how I may appear to the world,
but to myself I seem to have been only a boy
laying on the sea-shore,
and diverting myself now and then
by finding a smoother pebble
or a prettier shell than ordinary,
whilst the great ocean of truth
lay all undiscovered before me." ~ Sir Isaac Newton
There is nothing inherently wrong with watching television at some point during one's vacation. However, please allow me to humbly submit to you: If you find yourslef indulging in some mindless program while on holiday in a luxurious beachfront condo and the television stops working, you may receive that inturruption as a serendipitous cue to step out of the false richness of the material world and onto the shores of inner discovery... and begin looking for seashells.
-----------------------------------
Related:
Comments