I like ellipses. Those three dots at the end of a sentence, a phrase, a passing thought, hinting that there’s more to come, an indication that this is not the end of the story.

It’s true, sometimes ellipses come at the beginning of a phrase, indicating that something came before. I don’t tend to use ellipses in this way. Though maybe I should.

Because there is always something that has been uttered before that which is uttered. Like the beginning of the universe. What was before the beginning? What came before the Big Bang? Ellipses could very well come in handy here.

As in, “…the universe.”

I kind of think ellipses in this way serve as a stand-in for God.

Sometimes ellipses signal an omission of words, as in a quote. For example, the great teacher said, “There is no need to run, strive, search or struggle. Just be. Just being in the moment … is the deepest practice of meditation. Most people cannot believe that just walking as if you have nowhere to go is enough.”

Those are the words, the wisdom, of Thich Nhat Hanh, the great teacher and Zen Buddhist monk who died just over a week ago.

I removed the words “in this place” from the quote. But they are rather important words when you think about it. Thich Nhat Hanh actually said,

“There is no need to run, strive, search or struggle. Just be. Just being in the moment in this place is the deepest practice of meditation. Most people cannot believe that just walking as if you have nowhere to go is enough.”

Just being in the moment in this place…

I am trying to do this. To walk as if I have nowhere to go, to be still in the moment, in this place, while honoring that there is more to my story to live.

Becoming…

If I could summarize the first month of 2022 in one word or phrase, it would be becoming…

The ellipses are very important here. I know there is more to follow.

2022 came in almost like a nesting mole burrowing its way forward into my sphere of awareness. A presence entering with quiet stealth, poking its nose up out of the dark soil, only to dig back into its cold underground for a while longer.

That’s how January 2022 has felt for me. Mostly quiet. Anticipatory. Not entirely sure of things. Becoming…

The world outside seems to be awash in a sea of anxiety. Omicron tacks on another chapter to our COVID odyssey. Political systems are in upheaval. Russia threatens Ukraine;  war looms. The climate throws another curve ball at the weather forecast.

Another local business closes its doors forever.

My Friday mail gets stolen from our mailbox.

Meanwhile, here I remain in my quiet home, doing my quiet work, going forward into another year of life on the planet, wondering what is becoming of it, of me? Or am I becoming something? I’m trying to become. But it is winter here. And wintering seems not so much about becoming as it is a time of hibernation, of “being in the moment in this place…”

Still, like you probably do, I have goals, or at least things I want to accomplish this year, things I want to improve on, projects I want to dive into. I’m feeling the tension of it all. Are you? The tug forward into the world of unknowing. A wanting to step out of home and break out of the safety chains and become, like the mole that pokes its nose out of the darkness.

Then the pullback into wintering and hibernation comes. I’m unsure. Unsure of myself. Unsure of the world. Worrying. Working at things. Planning. Dreaming. Conspiring. Becoming…

Funny how a song and a singer can come along at just the right time to put words and music to it all. This recent release from musical artist, Yebba, has been circulating in my mind and in my ear memory. Perhaps it can be the musical nudge to help us all move forward in this unknown, becoming, year of ellipses…

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