Meditation on Shelter
Monday is hell; to avoid this reality is either a feat of unique scheduling or ignorance. Our industrially designed work weeks usually begin on Monday, bringing with it the physical and emotional stress of molding our habits and sleep schedules to what is usually an incredibly inconvenient, emotionally draining slog. ”So what?” You may be asking. Work is work. If you do not tackle it, it tackles you and there is very little that can be done about this state of affairs. My solution to this, in fact, the only solution I have found at all, is to appreciate those little things which have not been robbed from you by circumstance. Regardless of what compromises you have chosen for yourself, the will and ability to appreciate your own life should not be one of them. This is why I have chosen to write a short meditation on shelter.
Shelter is probably a fact of life for most of us reading. We live, rest, and likely work in, and for, many physical shelters everyday.
How many of us actually perceive the convenience of this on a daily basis? It is easy to forget the convenience of our situation when so many of us wish to change it. For many of us, the shelters we find ourselves in become only shadows of our tethers to obligation and responsibility. We work every day it seems, to support our shelter, sometimes harder and more deliberately than before and often our living conditions just stay the same. So why appreciate something so integral to conventional responsibility? The point seems almost redundant considering even those without shelter are expected to know it's value. The reason however cyclical and self-evident it may seem is that shelter is not automatically granted and many of us are born or find themselves without shelter or have entirely different perspectives of what a shelter consists of.
What is granted for you whether due to the conditions of your birth or your work ethic are not actually most common denominator factors in everyone's lives. Your preferences as an individual are molded by your circumstances, experiences, and character. Every time you inhale the smell of coffee and smile regardless of how common this occurrence is it represents a miracle in the realm of probability.
When you find yourself in a place of resentment for your shelter, it is good to remember that even this resentment is a luxury provided and defended by your shelter itself. Regardless of the obligations or humility of your living situation, it is what it is, and one can not easily predict the effects of change however inevitable. Remember to thank your shelter, whatever form it takes for it's steadfast patience and reliability in being what it is. What you condescend to today is gone tomorrow. Even Atlas who allegorically holds all our ceilings on his shoulders has an aching back that will one day break. Every wall that defends you breaks the wind and elements with it's very existence so you do not have to. You can continue to take it for granted or trade it for another that more accurately fits your wants and needs.
You may feel used and abused in your life and at your work but remember there are patient, silent, and almost invisible forces protecting your every day. Beyond judgement and complaint our world carries it's children in patchwork dress with pride as if to boast before God himself. Love her as she loves you; unconditionally. Remember that no one is able to love her like or for you and remember that no one can return to you the pleasure you reject in your everyday life after it's physical messengers are gone.
Thank you as always, for your interest and time. We will be back to talking about socioeconomic soon. For now enjoy your lives and thank you for your companionship.
Have a good night. Keep breathing my friends.