Like many, I have been on a quest of consciousness my entire life to answer that one nagging question, why am I here. That spiritual probing we ultimately pose to ourselves at some point in our existence.
Those I know have elected to travel to far away places like Machu Picchu for answers. Some have attended lectures in the mountains of Sedona. Others, sitting, meditating, or spending time in a temple in India or Thailand. Many invested in taking courses or trotting around the globe to speak to a guru who has the answers to that existential question. Typically on the road less travelled, and pragmatic, I’ve elected to source out my avatars at the epicentre of consumerism, the Temple of Costco.
My journey to Costco is both routine and pedestrian except for those beautiful senior women and men who stand behind mini tables handing out testers from naan to Caesar salad. Filled with nuggets of wisdom and insight not only on how to sauté the broccoli but how to value life. Most are retired, some widowed, all live in a place of gratitude. That’s the secret of life. Being grateful for where you are and all your experiences even if they happen to suck at that moment. If you don’t judge them as good or bad and see them only as an experience, you can better understand your journey and move through it instead of parking yourself at it. Finding a silver lining in the darkest of places and letting the light in, is the art of living life well. Nothing can stay the same. Change is the only constant in life.
These women and men of Costco have lived challenging and demanding lives. Filled with fascinating experiences and reflections, inscribed on their faces alongside their laugh lines. Their spirits are more charged then the Dyson in aisle one, their history more transformative than the Vitamix in aisle three and their gratitude more radiant than the diamonds featured in the showcase.
If you think about it, it’s kind of brilliant that these insightful individuals are in a location where scores of people pass through daily. You have to admit the Universe has an amusing sense of humour. Invisible to many except for the trays of goodies they are sampling, they serve as beacons of wisdom, but only if you ask. Gracious and discrete, like the pearls of wisdom they dispense, they happily introduce a retrospection on a backdrop supported by merchandising and commerce. As incongruent as it might appear at first glance, in the big picture it makes total sense.
Growing up my teachers reminded me that the magnificence of individuals would most likely surface in ways outside of my expectation and to be alive and present to it. More people will listen to a whisper than to a yell, and those who genuinely possess humility and consciousness will most likely not enter through the front door but rather the back. Most will be unknown, void of ego, possibly recognized in their later life if at all. All will be responsible for the dramatic shift in the quotient of compassion and love on the planet. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Thich Nhat Hanh all fit the bill.
One’s status in life is irrelevant and nothing more than an illusion. Death is the equalizer. We can’t bring anything with us. I know this to be a fact because my mother insisted on taking a loaf of her favourite rye bread with her when she passed on, and it didn’t work. One’s accumulation of toys inconsequential, while the expansion of our soul means everything. I suppose the question to pose is what insights have we acquired from this gift of life and what will we ultimately leave behind? You can’t take anything tangible with you when you crossover but you can bring love. It’s the only thing that goes with you. Death is a transference of energy, and there is no stronger energy then unconditional love. If only we could fully comprehend the magnitude to which Love heals, restores and transforms and transcends but that would mean taking responsibility in our own lives, to such a degree, that we are not yet ready as a collective consciousness, but we are slowly waking up to that insight. Compassion and love define our existence. They are one in the same. These Costco avatars have aspects of that and live it. Their faces light up as they speak about their experiences and history. The courage they didn’t know they had to make life-altering decisions that are easy when you have the means, and there are no obstacles; but not when you don’t and, your restrictions are plenty.
It’s the painful experiences that define us, and it’s curious the more laborious the struggle, the gentler we are towards our perception of life. Our witnessing of these moments is in opposition to the celebrations that also find their way into our lives, serving as contrast and allowing us to understand the fragility of life. Being there for others, having others be there for us and being there for ourselves.
Beauty is a veil, an illusion. Any challenging experience holds a moment of Grace. An elegance far beyond what glamour could ever claim to be. It’s when we’ve hit the wall that our senses become fully alive and we are present. No resistance, our spirit shattered, we get up and collect what is around us and start over except at a new departure point. That’s called resilience. Whether it was how they met their significant other in a camp during the war, being the first to come to North America, negotiating physical issues, being the first to get an education or how challenging their grandchildren are. It’s recognizing what is and seeing it without judgment. Some survivors from camps from the Second World War, others immigrants who came to Canada during volatile times in their homelands, some married while others circumvented that part of their lives to support their families abroad.
No matter what may appear as a challenge in life, they focus and operate from a place of possibility and faith not necessarily in religion but in life, in the universe in themselves and above all in Love, the basis of any sacred belief. The power in the simplicity that they view the magnificence of life is effortless, their gratitude endless. Though none have conclusively answered my question, all have provided me with tremendous insights that have been paradigm-shifting consequently advancing my quest.
Yes, Virginia, the Universe has a delicious sense of humour. Who would have guessed that today’s avatars came dressed in white aprons, sporting huge smiles, wearing progressives and handing out cookies and beer battered fish as symbols of the sweetness and abundance of life?
“In three words I can sum up everything about life: it goes on.” Robert Frost.