It’s hard…but I just focus on the fish – this is my sole self assigned singular task this afternoon – good, bad or otherwise…I know that if I look up and assess the things going on around me I will be discouraged and compelled to act. The fire is hot and the temperature just right…the salmon bastes nicely in it own juices and oils, and drips from the tail to the ground with a sizzle…the beach air fills with its delicious aroma and everyone comes by to see. A young boy asks me questions about how it done and I invite him assist as I prep the next fish for this traditional style BBQ…his father joins us and we enjoy the few moments it takes to fillet the fish, weave the cedar rack and place the fish at the fire…for a long moment he stares at what we have done, and then quickly turns and runs to join the other kids. His father makes a comment about young boys and slips away too…I chuckle a little and look away from the fire and the fish – my singular task – to watch them leave…and then I see it all – some good and some bad, but mostly otherwise. Sigh…it almost overwhelms and pulls me into its gravity…but I purposefully look away and back to tending my slow cooking fish, and quickly find the peace of this, my singular task again.
“Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.” – Lao Tzu
About Lawrence Lewis
I do a number of things professionally...but most of all and the true purpose of what I do through "my work" is to provide for my family, be a good husband and great father, and try to make a difference as a world citizen...I guess it's not much more complicated than that 🙂