Wake up!

Last night, as I arrived at my brother's house for a family dinner to start the Rosh Hashanah holiday, I received an email from Irwin Kula, my friend and teacher. After expressing his wishes for me and Bari and our family for the new year, he concluded with a piece of Torah:

"...the key practice is shofar ...the job to get done ... hear the blast and wake up wake up to the gift of our life ...wake up wake up to our humanity ...wake up wake up to all we can be."

I've heard many interpretations of shofar but this one worked for me. 

It served as a reminder - perhaps as a mantra - to take notice of the world around me and take advantage of all life's gifts. 

I recently shared my love of sunrise with Lynsey Ford, a colleague at Brown. I told her of a recent morning walk and noticing the sun peek through the clouds as it rose above the horizon. I felt immensely grateful to live near the water and have the opportunity to notice that many mornings the "sunrise" is a brief moment of stunning beauty that is gone as quickly as it arrived. And this one took my breath away.  The red pancake was sparkling and brilliant but was gone in a moment as the clouds floated by.  But I saw it and it reminded me that every day has the potential for beauty - but we need to be watching for it - we need to be vigilant to protect our optimism when we are worried or afraid.

Lynsey took my story - and observations - a step further. She recently traveled to Ireland and found herself luxuriating in time - and found herself noticing things around her that she didn't often see. She found herself attracted to a particular flower and for whatever reason, took great pleasure each time she saw it in a new setting. In her "vacation mind" she had more space to pause and notice the beauty around her and realized how much this lifted her spirits.

Soon after returning home, she was in her backyard and noticed this same exact flower. Realizing that this flower had been there all along reminded her that she needed to slow down ... just a bit ... in order to find hidden beauty in plain sight. To cultivate her "vacation mind" in her daily life, she began to water the flower every day - simply as a ritual to remind herself to take pause and appreciate the beauty around her.

As I get ready to leave for Temple to hear the sermon and reflect on the beginning of this New Year, I hope that I can always remember to appreciate the wondrous beauty around me. I'm incredibly grateful for the love and unyielding support of my wife, Bari; incredibly proud of the good hearts & joy of life that I share with my children Jeremy, Gregory and Sophie; lucky to enjoy the health and inspiration from my mother who is always there to support and love me; and love from a host of other family and friends who enrich my life every day.  

On this grey morning with winds whipping across the Bay from tropical storm Jose, I am inspired to find the beauty in this day and excited to begin another year with commitment to "hear the blast and wake up wake up to the gift of our life ...wake up wake up to our humanity ...wake up wake up to all we can be".

L'shana Tova