The Door

We open and close a lot of doors in our lifetime, don’t we? There are, of course, all the physical doors we go through, but there are many figurative ones too—such as starting or ending a career, a relationship or any phase of our life. The phrases “open the door” and “close the door” are used to signal these moments of crossing over from one place to another.

I got to wondering this week: “Can the doorway be like a mindfulness bell calling us back to our best selves?” Here are a couple of examples of how this became clearer for me.

My friend was the recipient of two small diamond-shaped pieces of paper which carried the parallel verses for the lunar new year. The giving and receiving of these verses is an annual custom in the tradition of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. The verses for this year are breathing in “Peace in every step,” breathing out “Freedom in every smile.” She decided to tape them to her front door so that she would see them and pause to breathe as she was heading out the door in the morning.

Another friend was telling me about the “do not disturb” sign she had purchased to place on the door of her meditation room so that she could alert other family members to her need for quiet and privacy. She got into the habit of storing the sign on the inside of her door when she wasn’t meditating. Recently she read the sign as she was walking out of her meditation room and it dawned on her that inside the door was actually a better location for the sign. It is now a reminder of her commitment to not disturb others as she makes her way through this life.

I invite you to observe the doors you cross over both literally and figuratively. What have you carried over those thresholds? What have you left behind? What can you do to remind yourself of the qualities you wish to embody as you step through the door?