On with the Ordinary!

I wonder if G-d ever gets a break.

Imagine the exhaustion of the past few weeks: judging each creation, determining our health and the length of our lives, calibrating the world's water supply, calculating our finances... and that's without even touching world peace.

Not that it's been easy for us either. All this resting, eating and being happy is hard work, especially when trying to find something to wear that still fits.

Now as the year starts for real, a certain excitement for the ordinary descends upon us. Bring on the humdrum and the monotony! We actually look forward to the simple quotidian responsibilities and routines as we stow away the suitcases, pack up the sukkah and hide the credit card. But along with the calm of the "boring" and the expected, comes a depressing emptiness, a sad and even lonely feeling of distance from G-d , from Shul, from davening, from the holiness in which have been immersed.  

It is tough but vital for us to harness the closeness we experienced; that G-d-family-community bond, the simcha borne from connection, and take it with us back to school, our jobs, our diurnal routines. Even more critical is maintaining the priorities that came into sharp focus when appealing to Hashem for what we really need and want.

But how?

I believe that Nethaniel Brandon tapped into the secret path in his masterpiece The Six Pillars of Self Esteem. It's about being conscious, aware, mindful, and "in the moment". It means directing our consciousness inward as well as outward. Living consciously means more than seeing and knowing: it means acting upon what we see and know; monitoring the congruency between what we say our goals are and how we invest our time and energy; taking a few minutes to remember the reality of the holiness that is within our grasp. Living consciously is about reliving in our minds eye those moments of unfettered contentment, fulfillment and unbridled bliss as we look into the eyes of our friends, spouses and children. We need to continually ask ourselves if that which we profess to care about most, gets the most from us in attention? Are our actions and purpose in alignment?

It's definitely been ours and His "busy season." I do hope that He got to rest over chol hamoed, because He's got some tough decisions ahead come November.

Shabbat Shalom,