A weird occurrence illustrating “respond to what shows up” and “why the hell does the universe think this is my business?”
Our cohousing’s condo building is next door to a big church that holds a Christmas village soiree over two weekends. It features a lighted Christmas ‘hayride’ that goes around the block and typically exits a few hundred feet up from our property.
Occurrence #1: I happened to be outside yesterday afternoon when two guys from the church asked if they could use our driveway to exit to the street since their usual exit was blocked. Me: Um, well, OK, I’ll email the community and see. Send the email, gather responses, call the guy back. He thanks me and says they discovered another driveway exit in between their usual exit and our driveway, so they’ll use that instead. OK, fine.
Occurrence #2: Hours later, the hayride truck has been making its rounds, and I am taking out the recycling; this happens to be the night when the bins are moved from their usual locked corral to the street curb. I go out to the street and – lo! – I see an SUV pull up and park right where they will block the truck exit.
I let the couple know that the driveway is being used and point out where else on the street they can park. They thank me and park across the street.
So what?, you may well ask. My first thought in both of these cases was, “Who the hell died and left me in charge of this furshlugginer driveway??” My second thought was, “Well, I’m not in charge here but something tapped me on the shoulder and placed me here to take care of something for some reason. So, take a breath, respond to what’s showing up, and take care of it.”
The whole thing reminded me of one of David Reynolds’ Constructive Living sayings, “I am Reality’s way of getting Reality’s work done.”
