Attachments by Vivian W

Attachments
by Vivian W, Medford and Ashland, Oregon

Buddhism says that one shouldn’t be attached to anything.  We should meditate on our breath, inhaling positive, exhaling negative energies. Anytime that we think we can’t live without someone or something, we need to just accept that these someones or somethings are a blessing but not something that we grasp onto, or use to define ourselves.

In the last 3 or so weeks, I’ve slowly had to let go of attachments. Tennis, Pickleball, theater, movies (oh god how I miss movies), friends, walks with said friends, in person women’s group, and leisurely wandering down grocery store aisles, but rather trotting in the store, getting what I need, trotting back out, and slathering sanitizer on my hands.   

Attachments. I’m down to my boyfriend and my dog. Boyfriend is getting a bit cranky sometimes, but the dog is so beyond thrilled to have me home almost 24/7, she can’t even believe it. Follows me around the house, “talking” to me.

After not having most of my attachments for a while, I’m discovering that I’m thinking a lot more, starting to get back into the book I’m writing and resting more. Realizing once again that I’m important and that all that stuff “out there” is just busy-work. Meditating 2-3 times a day, just breathing and counting my breaths so that my mind doesn’t interfere with other thoughts. Counting blessings. I have food, roof, bed, running water, and I can breathe, smell taste touch see and hear— all by myself.

I went and bought some Dutch Bros. Coffee gift certificates for truckers, but now I have to figure out how to hand the certificates safely to the drivers. Without our truckers, we would have nothing.

Gratitude is really the only thing to which I need to be attached.