On Groundhog Day this month,
Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring. But since then,
not only has it snowed in Utrecht but it has even snowed in Phoenix! More like pigs
flying than a groundhog’s shadow, as Phoenix weather can feel very much like the
movie Groundhog Day; every day the exact same day, lather, rinse, repeat, ad nauseum.
In fact, my life in Phoenix felt much
the same. Many, many – far too many – hours spent doing research and writing by
myself at home, punctuated by days at the office, occasionally appearing in
court. Persistent family issues, relationship issues, punctuated by the mundane
routines of house maintenance, car maintenance, paying bills, getting groceries.
Always too much time, and yet never quite enough. But also the comfort of kindred
spirits who understood. So I retired, moved 6,000 miles away and,
“Well it’s Groundhog Day… again!” Once more I am spending many, many – far too
many – hours doing research and writing by myself at home, punctuated with days
attending class or going to the office, occasionally going to watch court hearings.
The very same family issues, relationship issues, punctuated by
the routine maintenance of the details of my day-to-day life. And the comfort
of kindred spirits who understand. All in a new place and with new people, but
somehow still the same life. Perhaps I didn’t pack quite as lightly as I thought!
Funny how you think changing
everything in your life will actually change your life. But the chance to do something
completely different still requires that you actually do things differently. It is not enough
to change the form of your life; you must also change its substance. And as
famously stated by Einstein, we can't solve
problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. But sometimes
it
is the very repetition of our days, our work, and our relationships that pushes
us forward to new realities as we encounter the same things over and over again,
haunted by a disturbing sense of déjà vu. As in the movie, perpetual do-overs of
no consequence get old, and neither despair nor self-punishment will change
anything. The only thing left is to use the time to learn new and master skills
for no purpose other than that they are there to be learned and mastered. And to
pay attention to every moment, every person, caring deeply and yet not trying
to control the outcome or fix every problem. Only then do we wake up to a new day.
Only then do we really move forward.
And so I awake once more to Groundhog Day, too much time and yet never
enough. It is snowing again, and I have research to do, papers to write, family
issues and relationships to sort out. Mini-karmas all, each a little cycle of death
and rebirth, all with the possibility of suffocating sameness or transformation,
depending on how I choose to look at them and the choices I make in dealing
with them. Will I keep making the same mistakes? Probably. But sometimes pigs
do fly from the shadow of Groundhog Day, and it snows in Phoenix. Ask me
tomorrow!