The Mouse and My Cheezie Bag

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What It’s About: I love soft, warm, summer nights, listening to great music, while reading some engrossing book under the patio lights, and mindlessly eating that all-Canadian snack, Cheezies. Last night was just that kind of night. At about 10:45 p.m., I hear this rattling in my now empty cheezie bag to the right of my feet. It was a country mouse scrounging for irresistible, Cheezie scraps, and let me tell you it was darn well fed. One big dude. Not a rat, thank goodness, but this mouse was from the heavyweight division. We’ve both put on pandemic pounds, the mouse and me. Frankly, I don’t know who was more startled? I let out this yell (not a scream), and the mouse skedaddled. I probably would have run too, but the adirondack chair I had my big butt settled in is so deep, it takes me a few minutes to unravel myself.

So What?: It’s important to escape sometimes. To lose oneself into something like a great book, a long bike ride, or that drift into social media posts. However, sometimes that escape, if it’s overplayed, can blind us from being present and aware of our surroundings. Not seeing a mouse sneaking up to nibble at my Cheezie bag is mostly harmless. The more serious matter is if we miss seeing people that need to be seen, and being present enough to understand that someone close to us requires our attention. Escaping and/or being blind from that reality has potentially painful consequences. Being sheltered in at home, and always around each other, is not the same as being fully present. I’m notorious for getting lost in my iPad. The content available for my curious mind is like this delicious buffet that I can gorge myself on. That worldwide library is literally endless. Unfortunately, my loving relationships do have an expiration date, as do I. The same applies to people we work with. Are we too busy working on our own agenda to look up and really see them?

Now What?: We all need a break. “Vacation” means to vacate, and that includes not always being on. However, I need to remind myself to work harder at being aware and present for those loved ones around me. Sometimes the best thing I can do is to put down my book, phone, tablet, and maybe even put them out of sight without being asked to. The most masterful meditators can be in full meditative flight and still be fully aware of their surroundings. No one could sneak up on them, even if they were as quiet as a mouse. Do not let the loneliness or emptiness of people you care about sneak up on you as a surprise, even though you now seem to be constantly together. I need to work harder at this in my relationships. To what extent do you think you’re as present and aware as you might be at home and work? This is hardly a new or profound insight. I just thought you might appreciate that even the lowly mouse can teach us and remind us of something important.

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: I wonder if we miss not knowing some things. Before we had the entire encyclopedia and more in our pocket at all times, we might have asked something like “what’s the capitol of Indiana?” and then, if someone in our immediate presence didn’t know, we shrugged it off and just moved on. I think there’s a lot of merit and forgotten value in saying “I don’t know,” and being okay with that. What you can always learn is the vibe in your immediate surroundings and community, and perhaps sometimes that’s way more important information than anything you can look up on your phone.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

The Mouse and My Cheezie Bag

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