Sunday, March 18, 2012

Blessets


So I’m at a doctor’s office getting a round of tests. Feeling pretty awful and the tests are generally making things worse – lovely. This is definitely a “grit your teeth and bear it” kind of moment, which I do with a few deep breaths and as much patience as I can muster. Then the technician monitoring the test is called away for a few minutes, and I am left alone in a quiet, cool, dim room. I feel the tension in my body begin to flow out and a recognition of the grace of this small moment begin to flow in. A blesset.

This word “blesset” came to me as a way to describe those tiny moments of grace that fill our days. “Blessing” seems too big and proud a word for what I’m talking about. My son is a blessing (although there are times when I need to be reminded of that), my family and friends are blessings, my work is a blessing. These elements of my life call and transform me; they give me a chance to overcome pride and selfishness and the 101 other failures of compassion to which I am prone. But a blesset is a small thing, just a droplet of grace, a simple recognition of where I find myself in a given moment.

I’ve been feeling unwell more often than not of late, and it’s easy to get caught up in that, to focus on the pain or dizziness or nausea or whatever less-than-pleasant reminder of my physicality is invading my mental space. But every time this word crosses my mind – and it crosses my mind more and more – I stop and ask myself, “What is the blesset of this moment?” and invariably there is an answer: quiet, a chance to close my eyes when I don’t feel well, the beauty of a sunset, the sound of music playing in a another room, a cool breeze, the sun’s warmth, the sweetness of an orange…I don’t think it matters what blesset I find, just that I find one, that I open myself to the moment enough to recognize the grace that it holds, and to be grateful for it. And I hope that you see the blessets in your life, too.

4 comments:

  1. A blesset - even the word evokes a sense of peace and desire to really see that some thing of small wonder in our lives. Cynthia - what a wonderful word and a way to manage the troubles we /I have in a single moment.
    Over the past two weeks, I have become stressed more and more as a project's deadline quickly approahes. But when glimpses of what the final product could look like appear on my computer, I feel the blesset in that moment: a sense of some fulfillment after feeling so useless for the past 6 years. Another blesset is when I am so fatigued and weak and my cat, who has wonderfully bunny-soft fur, softly jumps on the bed and snuggles with me in the crook of my arm as I fall asleep. In a way, I feel blessed to be able to call forth, in my mind's eye, so many blessets!

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    1. It's amazing how full of life these tiny, beautiful moments are when we stop and reach for an awareness of them. Thanks!

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  2. I'm sorry you're having this experience, Cynthia.

    Your post makes me think of the discussions going on in my blog, on using Buddhism to deal with chronic funk . Focus on the moment. Focus on the blesset.

    (((((HUG)))))

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    1. A Buddhist friend who is going through a very serious health issue said to me recently that she was focusing on what each day holds, not borrowing trouble from tomorrow. Sounds like what you are saying here.

      PS - Miss getting to hang out with you!

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