The other night, Matt and I sat on our bed, relaxing after a busy day. Matt was reclined, with his head on a pillow, eyes facing upward toward the ceiling. After a few moments of silence he turned to me and asked, “What do you think about when you stare at the ceiling?”
Lost in thought, his question caught me off guard.
“Hmm,” I said aloud, scanning back through the wanderings of my mind. “I don’t know, the meaning of life?” I offered, only half joking.
“What?!” Matt laughed. “Is that serious?”
Well, no, it hadn’t been completely serious, but as a slightly hyperbolic generalization it wasn’t too far from the mark. I started listing a few of the things that tend to occupy my mind in quiet moments.
Emails I forgot to send.
Conversations I had that day.
My schedule.
Mental preparation for an upcoming meeting.
Wondering if I’m living up to my potential.
The future.
My hopes and dreams.
My loved ones and what they might be doing.
Partway though rambling off my list, I paused and turned back to Matt.
“Why?” I asked, “What do you think about?”
He smiled and said, “I was just counting the dots…and seeing if I could make shapes out of them.”
We both laughed, realizing we had stumbled into a perfect metaphor for our personalities.
I rush through life, always thinking 10 steps ahead, constantly in motion. Matt, takes things as they come, buckling down when necessary, but also taking the time to slow down and experience the here and now.
It had never occurred to me, when I lay my head back in bed, to actually look at the thing in front of me.
And of course, it’s not just our popcorn ceilings that I had never really looked at before.
Since that conversation, I have tried to remind myself to take time to notice. It’s incredible the things we miss when we’re stuck in our own heads all the time.
In the words of the infinitely wise Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you might miss it.”
So, if you’re like me, and you’re tempted to charge full speed ahead into the possibilities of 2017, consider taking a few minutes to stare at the ceiling. Maybe you’ll notice something you never realized was right in front of you.