Contrast

The home office

Working from home, by far, offers more joys than obstacles. One of the many benefits I enjoy is the ability to work from my back porch. Living in Charleston, SC means that, during every month of the year, the weather is warm enough for me to be comfortable sitting outside with my laptop.

On Saturday afternoon, when I saw that the sun was shining directly on my chair, I quickly scooted outside to take advantage of the warmth on my back. I was deep into editing articles on meditation for a Buddhist magazine when I became aware of the sounds around me.

The neighbors decided to ready their yard for spring on this beautiful afternoon. My cacophonous neighbors decided they would like a little motivational musical accompaniment to the raking and tidying. What do you call that genre of music? The kind with lots of angry, off key yelling. Next, the distinctive sound of a beer can tab popping. Followed by an argument about how many more bags of mulch to be purchased. Then, the F-bombs started flying. After all, mulching is critical to lawn maintenance. And here is where I started to giggle. The lady neighbor got the hiccups in the middle of cussing out her husband for his lack of ground cover knowledge.

With effort, I returned my focus to the article I was reviewing. It was written by an inmate, sharing his experience of meditating while being incarcerated in a busy prison. He concluded with, “For me, it doesn't matter where you are. A moment of happiness is a moment of happiness."

And I was truly happy in that moment. Happy to have work. Happy to have a home. Happy for the beautiful weather. And mostly happy that I am not married to the neighbor.