As I watched a woman in a
well-to-do neighborhood open the door to her housekeeper and child at 8 a.m. on
Friday morning, I mused, wouldn't we all prefer to be the one living in that
house rather than coming to clean it? Perhaps. Yet Nature herself continually
creates, maintains and destroys; that's the essence of the life cycle.
While I think of myself as
primarily a creator, the world needs daily maintenance — not least because of
the mess we bipeds tend to leave behind. I wipe down sinks in public restrooms
and often have to clean off outdoor tables before I can sit to eat at places
like Whole Foods; even the staff can't keep up with the detritus.
Daily life is one of maintenance,
renewal. Poet and novelist Marge Piercy writes,
"The
work of the world is common as mud.
Botched,
it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But
the thing worth doing well done
has
a shape that satisfies, clean and evident."
(excerpted from To Be of Use, © 1982)
Yet I find myself disdaining some
whose work entails tidying up the universe rather than contributing something
fresh. The maintenance manager at a local community center seems comically
addicted to keeping the exterior doors locked and "undesirables"
(read: homeless people) out. When I've sat inside to use their high-speed WiFi,
I witness him check and lock the doors at least a half dozen times within a few
hours. It seems almost a pointless exercise, because people stream into the
center for classes, meetings and other events all day long.
Directly across the outdoor quad
from the community center is a new senior wing. It's ADA compliant in every way
— except the architects didn't take into account seniors' diminished upper body
strength and agility. Several women have become trapped in the restrooms, whose
heavy oak doors are almost impossible for someone using a walker or wheelchair
to negotiate. So the community center's counterpart now has the additional
responsibility of constantly making sure all eight restroom doors (two for each
gender, at opposite sides of a long corridor in a 2-story building) remain
stoppered open each weekday from 9 to 5. There's a poetry to this, and a bit of
Divine humor as well.
Years ago, metaphysical teacher and
author Louise Hay made many tapes accompanied by the musical group Alliance.
One I listened to repeatedly was, "Doors Closing, Doors Opening," and
while it focused on personal growth rather than physical structures, I find it
amusingly applicable to the situations I've described. The main lyric went,
"Doors closing, doors opening, doors closing, doors I'm opening. I am
safe, it's only change. I am safe it's only change…"
Are you opening doors or closing
them? Do you create or maintain? Does your life weave between the two, and if
so, are you growing in ways that feed your soul? Mother Nature is always in
motion. It's important to clean up our mess and keep the doors to possibility
open. And maybe, unlocking what seems a necessary barrier will let in some
surprising gifts that may change your perception and release a fresh flow of
creativity.
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