Contemplative Monday

The following is from 'Heart Advice, Weekly Quotes from Pema Chodron'. (click)

HUMANIZING STRANGERS

"Suppose we spend some time every day bringing the unknown people that we see into focus,

and actually taking an interest in them. We could look at their faces, notice their clothes,

look at their hands.

There are so many chances to do this, particularly if we live in a large town or in a city.

There are panhandlers that we rush by because their predicament makes us feel uncomfortable,

there are the multitudes of people we pass on streets 

and sit next to on buses and in waiting rooms.

The relationship becomes more intimate when someone packs up our groceries 

or takes our blood pressure or comes to our house to fix a leaking pipe.

Then there the people who sit next to us on airplanes.

Suppose you had been on one of the planes that went down on September 11.

Your fellow passengers would have been very important people in your life.

It can become a daily practice to humanize the people that we pass on the street."

These flowers are called 'Bluets' which I found in Point Pleasant Park.

They are very low-to-the -ground spreaders.