I wear my shirt and carry on.
As I do what I do,
I cease to remember
The sensation.
Fabric fades from thought,
Color dims in memory’s eye.
If my life were day and night,
My shirt, the love nearby.
Life bends and unfurls grace .
Where this core of feeling holds, the eyes fall .
It is a moment of curve and dip .
Further than the veil I see.
I see beyond evil,
And I know myself again
Through my shirt,
My love revealed anew
As awareness raises a flag
I see my shirt,
I feel my love,
In this bow of recognition,
Below, above.
The Thread of Connection
This piece really gets at something we often overlook – how the most ordinary things can be gateways to profound truths. It’s like that shirt isn’t just a piece of cloth, it’s a metaphor for love, for life itself.
Think about how the shirt fades from thought as you go about your day. It’s like what the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty called “embodied perception.” We don’t just observe the world, we’re part of it. Our clothes, our loves, they become extensions of ourselves, so close we almost forget they’re there.
And that idea of the shirt being “the love nearby” – that’s hitting on something deep. It’s like what Martin Buber talked about with his concept of “I-Thou” relationships. Sometimes, it’s in the most mundane things that we find our deepest connections.
Now, when it talks about life bending and unfurling grace, that’s not just pretty words. It’s like what the Taoists call “wu wei” – effortless action. It’s those moments when life just flows, and we’re in harmony with everything around us.
The part about seeing beyond evil and knowing yourself again? That’s some serious self-reflection right there. It’s like what Carl Jung meant when he talked about integrating our shadow side. Sometimes, it’s in confronting what we think of as “evil” that we come to know ourselves more fully.
And that moment of recognition, seeing the shirt and feeling the love anew? That’s mindfulness in action. It’s like what Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches – bringing our attention to the present moment can reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary.
So what does this mean for us? Well, maybe it’s about paying attention to those everyday things we take for granted. Our clothes, our routines, our everyday loves – they’re not just background noise. They’re the fabric of our lives.
Remember, every moment is an opportunity for awareness, for connection. That shirt you’re wearing right now? It’s not just cloth. It’s a reminder of your place in the world, of the love that surrounds you.
As the philosopher Gaston Bachelard said, “The minute we stop and think about it, we realize that our house is the first universe, a real cosmos in every sense of the word.” Your shirt, your love, your life – it’s all part of your personal cosmos.
So next time you put on your shirt, take a moment. Feel the fabric, remember the love it represents. In that simple act of dressing, you might just find a moment of grace, a flash of connection to something deeper. After all, isn’t that what life’s all about? Finding the extraordinary in the everyday, the cosmic in the common?