The Staircase
So lately I have been just sitting down at the top of the staircase and meditating. No sacred space other than a threshold. No sacred wall hangings other than the wet towels from the morning shower that drape over the banister. No sacred incense other than the smell of wood, and dust, and dampness, and whatever soap I just used to wash my hands. No sacred sounds other than my dog’s claws clicking on the floor, the world moving outside, the occasional phone ringing, and my breath passing over the hairs in my nostrils…which this morning oddly mimics the wind when it howls through the tops of the evergreen trees.
It has not really been a planned thing. One day I just sat down. It was a moment after I had finished my morning routine and before I began my daily responsibilities. It felt like “now or never.” Now was the moment to be still and silent, otherwise I would shrug it off as I went about my day. So since then, not religiously but often, I just sit at the top of the stairs. It seems to fit. The walls of the narrow 100-year-old passageway feel like they are leading me somewhere, or perhaps foreshadowing something. I am acutely aware that my body could lean too far forward and come to near disaster. But, I feel sturdy and safe. I am acutely aware of LIFE at the top of those stairs, my life. The transient nature of it all, the forward motion of it all, the narrow tunnel that I will inevitably face.
I am content to sit there for now. It is the right place to stop for a moment, probably not forever, or even in some routine fashion…but for now. I think those stairs have a lot to teach me. So I will stop, and sit, and be still, and be silent, and I will pay attention.
sometimesihatemycat 
Beautiful attention to the moment and what the world presents to each of us. Thank you for sharing. Be well~
Thank you so much for reading. For me, that is the point of meditation…to notice life as it presents itself to you, not necessarily to try to create a life that suits the dogma of meditation (or any belief system.) Thanks again. Peace and Passion to you as well.
Looking at the picture, I feel some of what you describe. That space of the stairwell does a good deal of the work itself. That’s why I am grateful for certain spaces in my life.
Beautifully written…I often do that too…although not much here but in the house we lived at last year…one day I sat down while in the middle of some routine and it felt right so I began to keep an appointment with the top of the stairs at odd moments… I miss that space and often wonder if anyone else will sit there after me.