The Thread of Practice
“… after all the years of practicing meditation to retrain the mind to dwell in the present moment, brain disease gradually leaves you unable to recall the past or plan for the future. ‘The ultimate here and now’ would become a touch-point for us both along the way.
There was the laughter, and there were the precipices of life. Neither of us knew when we’d find ourselves at the next edge, either of laughter or of free fall. If I hadn’t had the thread of practice to hold on to, I don’t know how I would have managed.”
Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle. “Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows. A Couple’s Journey through Alzheimer’s.” Penguin, NY, 2008.
“There's a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn't change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can't get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time's unfolding.
You don't ever let go of the thread.”
William Stafford, "The Way It Is" (written 26 days before he passed)
