s a r a h c a s m

Dear Q,

Scatman Joe once said “I’d rather be a human being than a human doing.” I couldn’t say it better, myself.

This fast-paced, high-tech world will expect you to get things done,  to multi-task, and to be productive.  It is so pervasive that we work on our laptops, in front of the TV, with a book open beside us, and feel guilty for being unproductive.

Stillness is the key to being.  Feel free to be still.  Remove your self from the physical and enjoy the stillness that you find there.  The more still you are, the more still you will be.   Be conscious.  Be present.  Be aware.  Be still.  Just be.

Love,

Mom

Dear Q,

My mother always said “don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” Once I figured out what it meant, I appreciated the wisdom. Spitefulness, in any case, is the work of your ego. It always needs to be right, to be better, or look better, or do better; it’s usually at the expense of relationships, but it’s always at the expense of your spiritual well-being.

Keep your ego in check. It is really easy to buy into this “buy me” world that we humans have created. This consumer-driven world can cater to your ego if you let it. In my experience, a let it be attitude is much easier to live by than a look at me attitude. As the world is telling you to consume and you find yourself wanting to (and you will), ask yourself why.

Why do you want the big screen TV, the fancy car, or the big house? What part of you really wants it? It’s your ego; it’s the part of you that gets stroked whenever someone looks longingly at it. Your ego will relish the thought that you might appear better or richer or more worthy. Resist it. The more you feed your ego, the more it grows.

It is really easy to let your ego get the better of you – to let it make your decisions and dictate your interactions and relationships. Trust me, it is not worth it. Don’t let yourself get in your own way.

Love,

Mom

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said what you know is more important than what you are taught to believe.

As I sit here watching my son play, I can’t help but think that he knows far more than I. Fresh as he is to this world, he is much closer to the true essence of being. There is a saying that babies are the closest beings to God.  However you define god, the sentiment remains.

I lament the fact that what he knows will soon be overridden by what he has been taught to believe – from the grass is green, to you are a black man. What he is taught to believe will shape his identity, his perceptions, his interpretations, and his interactions. All aspects of his existence in this world will be inextricably linked to something someone once told him. Now, I realize that one of those ‘someones’ will be me. I also know that a lot of what I teach him to believe will conflict with what others try to teach him. (At least, that is my hope).

What he knows cannot be taught. It is instinct. It is intuition. That is far more important than what he will be taught. I hope that if I can teach him to believe anything, it’s that what he knows is more true than anything anyone can ever teach him (including me).