The other day I caught a glimpse of two children playing on the sidewalk. It was just an instant...almost like a flash- frame that I just happened to catch...as the bus I rode on, moved by quickly.
A memory was triggered...something from childhood I had not thought about in years.
When I was little, I used to observe ants. For hours I would watch as they crawled around in their private little world, sometimes carrying bits of grass or crumbs...or whatever other tiny things ants carry around with them. Most seeming much too large or heavy for one little ant to handle all by her/him self! This intrigued me so much.
I wondered how they "knew" to build, to have their little meetings at the edge of the lawn..and whereto turn or take a detour.
Who gave them directions?
I would test them!
Sometimes I would get a leaf...and place it right in front of them...blocking their path. Some of the tiny creatures would stop instantly, noticing that what was a clear path an instant before, was now blocked by an enormous obstacle. I would wait to see how long the ant/s would "access the situation", before they would decide how to continue.
One might pause for just a brief moment..and then "decide" to simply walk around the obstacle. Another would wait and wait and wait...too long sometimes, for me to even wait to see what the little traveler would eventually do! Another..would climb over the obstacle...struggling...but eventually arriving at their destination anyway. At least I think they did.
Did they know that they were ants? And that there was strange beings living in another private world of their own, watching them?? Did they KNOW that it was a HAND of one of those strange beings that had placed the obstacle in their path? Did they care? Were they upset by this unexpected event slowing them down? Did anything matter to them at all? Did they believe in an ANT GOD? Was IT...US?
Or were they like robots...just mechanically moving through their lives...no thought, no "ideas" just existing in automatic pilot mode. But who turned the auto pilot on? And was that a bad thing...that they didn't actually think...but simply "knew, without thought" what to do next?
Yes, I really did wonder about these things when I was little.
Now, I wonder why, of all the childhood memories that could have been RE-viewed that day......why was it was this one..that pulled me in.
3 comments:
I think the timing of this post is so appropriate! I have been talking to people (people who I know to be thoughtful and enlightened)who are struggling and questioning the role they play in their lives (Is it up to us, the guiding hand or both?)Many feel like they've been on "autopilot" and are just now seeing this. I relate to the ant who paused in front of the leaf waiting...sometimes it's because I'm resting, but often it's because I don't see that I could walk around it, and am dreading the difficult climb over it. Or mad because "Everything was going just fine until the leaf showed up!"
Thanks for the post, it has me thinking and I'll share it with friends.
Laura
Christine Marie,
Thank you for your gifts!
From now on, whenever I see what appears to be an "obstacle" I'll remember the ants, and I'll remember that I can chose how to view and go around that obstacle.
I'm also going to share this with my friends.
Deb
A fellow ant-watcher! I used to do the same--but I would sprinkle down food crumbs and see if they would take it, leave it or abandon what they are taking for something that appeared to be sweeter.
Post a Comment