Just One Thing

Last night I asked myself, “What one thing do I want to make sure I do this week to feed my soul?”

It doesn’t have to be good for me or helpful or special—just one thing that will bring me joy. I thought about a lot of different things I could do, places I could go, activities that might be fun, and people I might see. But in the end my needs and wants were quite simple.

I decided that my one thing this week was to make photographs and spread light (technically two things but in my mind they go together). Though I have household tasks and gardening that I want to do, grocery shopping, laundry, daily walks, and yoga practice that are also important to me, my one thing that I want to make sure that I do this week is to make photographs and spread light. Making photographs is what carries me through the depths and keeps me in the place where I feel most alive. Sharing those photographs feels like spreading light so that everyone can feel more alive.

By giving our full attention to whatever is before us, we can stay close to what is sacred. Toward this end, we have to understand the nature of practice, so we can be awake enough to feel the patch of wind pressing on the chickadee’s throat. Toward this end, we have to develop our own practice of holding nothing back, so we can be alive enough to feel the delight of someone who was blind who can suddenly see…

…

No one can listen for you, though we can soothe each other with our attention. No one can give voice to what comes through you, though we can find a thousand ways to say, “I love you, I love this life, I love the power of life to inform all the things I can’t see.”

The deeper we go, the more we realize that we are each part of an endless search. It may or may not lead to great accomplishments, but when we can educate the heart, we are very close to everything we need.

— Mark Nepo, Drinking from the River of Light

Chop Wood, Carry Water

You might say that my one thing is nothing new since hardly a week goes by when I don’t make photographs. And I also write blog posts and share photos that I hope are spreading a bit of light each week. It might sound boring to you that when I thought about just one thing I for sure wanted to do this week it turned out to be what I do most weeks.

“The novice says to the master, ‘What does one do before enlightenment?’
‘Chop wood. Carry water,’ replies the master.
The novice asks, ‘What, then, does one do after enlightenment?’
‘Chop wood. Carry water.’”

— Zen Koan

But I don’t see it as boring. Instead I feel great gratitude that I have discovered my one thing, a practice that truly brings me joy, and that I have the freedom to focus on it every single week.

Do I have other goals in my life? Of course! If I had to choose, family would come first, then photography. Fortunately I have all I need and can be present with family and still have time to make photographs.

If you could choose one thing to do this week that would feed your soul, what would it be?

May you walk in beauty.

Note: Photos in today’s post are from a walk I took yesterday at Noerenberg Gardens near Wayzata, MN.