Thursday, July 13, 2006

back to basics


When I was packing for my first year of teaching English in China, I really felt like I was stripping down and reducing life to the basics. I was, of course, fooling myself. Having my mom mail me the cowboy boots that didn't fit in the suitcase...need I say more?

I get the same kind of feeling now, only this time, I think it's for real. Life with a new little baby is really all about the basics. Eating. Sleeping. Pooping. These are the events that define time, not the clock or the TV schedule or classes or work or fun things that one used to do back when. There's a real clarity about living the basics of life so consciously. It's like an alternative hermetic discipline, one that doesn't require the desert and solitude to enforce its strict simplicity. Perhaps I can hope that there's a chance of emerging from this discipline with a new depth of spirit, an unanticipated gift from Clare to me.

5 comments:

pat said...

Babies are so basic in their needs. That was and continues to be a very comforting lesson for me. It always made it easier for me to focus on what's really important about life. Yes, you did that for me...and Clare is now giving that to you.

TKP said...

Dear dear CTB is quite adorable. I can't wait til she's big enough for the GASB onesies!

Anonymous said...

There's such beauty in simplicity, but it is a discipline. To have your little one help you rediscover those joys is truly a blessing!

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