For some, there is an endless need to window shop. It seems, by their behavior, that the quest is to see and imagine. While there are times that I enjoy window shopping, exploring windows, ready the dust jacket to a book that I might want to read, or listening to a sample of a new song, nothing replaces the thrill of an embrace. From a new idea and how it first touches my heart and the right side of my brain, through the emotional experience of an amazing, tantalizing, and changing bite of food, to the wonder in seeing an unexpected sight of beauty. Each does something deeply within that tells me I do not need to go further to experience a wonderful moment of living! I am there. It is here. The only questions are my attention and willingness to linger.
I live in a city renown for its shopping. It is hard to be very far from a mall of one kind or another. From hawker centers to Orchard Road, from malls build in the 70’s for the People to modern glass structures, opportunities to window shop are everywhere. To myself and anyone willing to listen, let me suggest the following.
Life is for living, not just imaging. Imagination is useful, as a doorway to new paths and experiences that follow. Living is more that just imagination, it includes the willingness and openness to experience the moment at hand and to act in context.
Living is not always easy or automatic. Withdrawing to a world of imagination and make believe can be a lot easier than facing uncertainty, pain, and ugly moments. One’s natural reaction includes running, yet running away from the moment at hand is never the answer.
In the immediate is a larger story. It is our story. Some may think they are somewhere else; I would suggest that the larger story is what it is. I see evidence supporting an age old observation; “God is great, and worth a thousand Hallelujahs. His terrible beauty makes the gods look cheap.” (Psalm 96.4)
