I’ve seen faucets drip water in a semi-desert area of India and by perceiving them rather than judging them, have come to different thoughts and feelings.
In the courtyard of the stone pilgrimage building where I once lived, faucets dripped where the ladies filled laundry tubs with water.
“Birds thrived in the semi-tropical climate—green parakeets, palest yellow-breasted oriental white-eyes—I watched them fly, hop, and perch in the greenery, and drink at water gutters and faucets that dripped with the regularity of clockwork.”*
While this dripping water had a beneficent quality, I used to look at large puddles in the flat, stone basins and wonder just how much water really was wasted.
A kitchen faucet filtering water in my new home has a slender, curved neck that resembles a tiny swan. It is dripping on purpose today. I have forgotten to run the water pump and the faucets are nearly dry. Eying two glass pitchers for water storage, I’ve moved the one partially empty under the swan faucet and now listen to its drip, drip, drip; I am aware of the irony. Rather than feeling annoyed, I’m appreciative for a little more water to drink.
My realization is, “It is more helpful to perceive than to judge. Keeping an open mind widens the number of opportunities for surprise and understanding.”
*From: A Flower for God