Day 10/30 - online shopping according to Rumi
Online shopping is like going to the supermarket and your eyes alone can cause that packet of chips to fall into the cart ... MAGIC! If our eyes are windows to our soul, then our soul must be riddled with desires, whether we recognise them or not.
When I chat with my colleagues in HR, we often land on this one trait we know allows for growth, change and, eventually, leadership: self-awareness. And in that vein, a degree of self-doubt. It makes room for humility. It also helps keep you honest...because we can fool ourselves about our motivations.
There's a lot of "be kind" mantras going around. But knowing and accepting what and who you are or can be, that allows for a more genuine kindness to yourself and others. It is a kindness built on the necessity for forgiveness.
Rumi, that mystic Sufi poet, often writes of God in the language of a lover. He is enthralled, in love and worships this absolute God. So Rumi is commonly quoted, out of context, in celebration of romantic love. Less frequently quoted are Rumi's religious teachings in the form of fables, verse and letters. They are stern yet gentle. They admonish by nudging you to stand closer to the mirror. And they ultimately still point, not to the self, but to God.
Today's poem is a short poem from his 6-volumed Mathnawi. It starts innocently enough about our intentions, but it eventually acknowledges too that we can make traps (haha its conclusion should be a mandatory pop-up warning on online shopping sites!!!) But ultimately, if you revisit the poem's first line, the "Who" is perhaps not even yourself (your will or desire), even if your own actions can damn you, but an authority beyond ourselves - just yet merciful, majestic yet loving.
Who makes These Changes?
Who makes this changes?
I shoot an arrow right.
It lands left.
I ride after a deer and find myself
chased by a hog.
I plot to get what I want
and end up in prison.
I dig pits to trap others
and fall in.
I should be suspicious
of what I want.
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