Reality Can Move Pretty Fast Around Us

Reality Can Move Pretty Fast Around Us May 31, 2023

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.

Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow.
Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
― Lao Tzu

As I was standing in line for communion at Tuesday Morning Mass, I was busy not thinking about wholly holy things, but about the next post I was going to write on The Catholic Bard. I was telling my friend this in the car as I was driving with him after mass to go pick up my wife from her early morning job in which she works about a half an hour a day montering kids on the local school bus. I’m not sure I explained this situation adequately. I was either too wordy creating too much word salad or not descriptive enough and leaving questions. That is always a possibility when writing and depending on the reader, one will perceive either possible reality.

Reality can move pretty fast around us. At any moment it could slam into us at 80 m.p.h. with tragedy or  opportunity.  Much like the guy stopped in the midst of traffic somewhere in the third out of four lanes near the intersection of route 4 and 95 in the  last of North America’s original Thirteen Colonies to ratify the Constitution and become one of the United States.  I saw this potential disaster while driving home from work on Monday night. It sort of startled me to see someone outside their car trying to do something to their tires, knowing at any moment a driver unaware of the unknown and unforeseen incident could cause this person’s unfortunate death. I prayed that God in his mercy would prevent this from happening.

Photo by Paulius Malinovskis

I actually explained this story the previous day to my friend Marshall, visiting us from Columbus Ohio. I re-explained it to him once again following me telling him about me not paying attention to Jesus as I was about to receive him in communion. As I was reiterating the tale of the driver in dire straits he asked why I was telling him again.  I went on telling him about how I got mad the previous night, cause my phone wouldn’t charge due to a broken charger port. I wasn’t sure with working at the nursing home and other plans planed for the week when I was going to get it looked at and possibly fixed. So I got frustrated and ranted and raved causing Kristin to ask what was wrong and what she could do to help. Marshall was out at the Hookah Lounge watching the Boston Celtics lose a historic game.

If I had waited patiently and accepted reality for what it was, I could have remained calm and handled how life had nicked me standing by the side of the road. I worded it somewhat differently during the 2 minute drive to the school down the street to pick up Kristin. Marshall asked another question. “Are you talking to me or at me?” And then realized this reality. “Your writing your article!”.

The next day while I was at work Kristin and Marshall went to Verizon, waited a long time in line where a guy named Tony cleaned the port but was unsure if it was truly fixed. They tested it and it charged a little. So they sold my wife a new phone and let us keep the old one and gave us a new number for it in case it charged in the future in which it did a 100%. For some reason it needed a pin to unlock the phone which they didn’t give to them. And of course there is no direct number to call the actual store to talk to Tony to find out what the pin code is, only for the number for  main Verizon company in which one of us talks to someone who actually didn’t sell us a new phone and a new phone line. I imagine the reader of this is confused at this telling of the tale of my phone woes. Well the writer is confused also and leads to another point to add to my analogies of reality. Reality can hit you hard while your standing still. You can patiently accept reality and finally recognize it as you realize what it is. And reality can be very confusing and hard to figure out.

Sometime you need to step aside from reality and learn Irish dancing at The Cèilidh Club. Kristin and I having been going most monday nights for the past month or so learning square dancing Irish style in which it incorporates some ballroom and swing dancing. But no dipping while dancing as Irish men don’t dip but Polish dancing men do or so I’m told. Were not perfect at doing all the steps and moves but as another member stated were here to have fun. Even if your not perfect at reality, you can at least try to have as much fun living it as possible. This break from reality while dancing will take a break in another few weeks for the summer. Irish people like Catholics take the summer off doing things.

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

The truth is any part of reality can be something worth sharing with others in story or song. Regardless of how we may hate or love it, reality is here with us either slamming into us very fast like a car stuck in traffic or the quiet realization that someone is sharing it with you as your peacefully realize it is talking to you. It can be confusing or fun as you dance away from it for awhile.  Reality when observed or thought about can give you ideas of what to write about even when you’re supposed to be concentrating on the reality of God in front of you.

In reality that comes from above
God is calling
There’s no bigger love
It’s his reality that welcomes us back
Trust and obey
There is no other way
-Newsboys

Sometimes you think your done with reality, but sometimes it’s not done with you. Last night after I went to bed,  I thought of one more point I wanted to make in this article. I didn’t want to get up to insert it into the post so I waited to the morning to add it. I actually didn’t feel like writing this post as I wanted to lay in bed, feeling upset that reality was not treating me the way I wanted to be treated. But the reality of insomnia wouldn’t let me sleep so I got up to write in the middle of the night. As a blogger I want to write  at least two posts a week and I wanted to make sure it was done by today, at the end of May. In order to make it a reality I had to press on regardless of how I felt. So I pressed on despite my feelings and my mood changed after I completed it. Sometimes you just need to press on through reality and it can help solve your otherwise unpleasant mood.

That’s the end of the reality of this article, incase you read it once more and relieve this reality yet again.

I’m pressing onPressing on, all my distress is going, going, gonePressing on, pressing onAnd I won’t sit back, and take this anymore‘Cause I’m done with thatI’ve got one foot out the doorAnd to go back where I was would just be wrongI’m pressing on
-Relient K


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