Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe, M.A., LCMHC, CAGCS Intuitive Grief Counselor, Author & Educator
Mary-Elizabeth Briscoe, M.A., LCMHC, CAGCS Intuitive Grief Counselor, Author & Educator

Lessons From the Street Cleaner

A sunny Sunday morning.  Quiet on Green St. as it often is on Sunday mornings.  I love this time.  Brilliant sunshine, hot coffee frothed with cinnamon and a dash of chocolate help to ease me into the day, joining in the quiet stillness of the town outside my window.  

The only break in the otherwise quiet comes from the street cleaner moving up and down the street as it does each morning at this time. Watching it clear away remnants of yesterday I realize what a fabulous image it really is.  Sweeping clean the bits and pieces of yesterday, clearing  the way for whatever may come today.  A clean slate.  An opportunity to start again, to be in the presence of this moment.  Imagine actually starting again each day with the recognition of endless possibilities available with an open body, mind, and spirit?  What a gift to offer ourselves.  I know for me I can sometimes get lost  looking back, clouding my ability to embrace the new moments in each day.  The key, I suppose is not to give up because the more moments of being present we experience the easier it really does become.  

Perhaps it’s the news of my uncle’s impending death or the memories that often flit through my mind this time of year from the loss I suffered all those years ago.  Memories too are moments of the present if we can allow them to simply be, without attaching to the past as we remember.  Maybe these are the reminders to live more in this moment as the street cleaner suggests.  Today is, after all, a new day.  Anything is possible.  The sun is shining, warming my skin, casting shadows as I write showing me that I am here in this moment-and that feels pretty good.

Funny this image that leads me to these words today.  Most people would likely have a peaceful, lovely picture of some nature scene or the like while here in my window, it’s the street cleaner teaching me another life lesson. Oh yeah, Happy Spring-Make time to be open to the new beginning this spring offers.