Drip

On Tuesday the kitchen ceiling fell in. I tracked the problem down to the cold water tap attached to the washing machine upstairs. I pulled the sheepish white good out from its cupboard and had a look round. The floor was damp but I couldn’t see why. Then…….plimp, a drop from the tap. I watched it, dared it even. Five or six seconds later……….plimp. I watched a few more and then turned the connector round less than a quarter-turn until it locked…………no more plimps. The machine was fitted a year ago and presumably has been dripping once every five or six seconds ever since, till there was enough water for the plasterboard downstairs to have to let go.

Two plumbing problems in a week. In all the Taoist books I‘ve read they always talk about the strength in soft things and often use water as an example.

Anyway, at the risk of repeating myself, like the relentless drip, I reckon that I need to watch out for the personal equivalent of doing a tiny bit of damage to myself that I might not even be aware of at regular intervals, which, over time will cause my ceiling to fall in. Maybe it is a recurring thought or worry that I need to just turn off.

I also reckon that on the other side of the same coin, if I do certain quite modest things regularly (and often) that I could benefit in a big way. Do tai chi, drink a glass of water, walk up a hill, be in contact with someone I like, relax on my expensive sofa, give a few quid to someone who needs it more than I do, remind myself who I am etc.

I do do tai chi some (not all) days, but as I sit here thinking about it, I suppose that if I did it as relentlessly and inevitably as that tap dripped then the results might be amazing. Taken to extreme, I could tell myself something or do something every five or six seconds and be permanently connected to my destiny; it would become inevitable!