Ants!

It took an army to do it, but I've finally been driven from my office. Okay, so it was an army of ants, but still... it was pretty traumatizing to have to flee with my laptop under my arm and my tail (or was that the adaptor cord?) between my legs.

While googling ways to launch a humane counter-strike, I am also trying to meditate on whatever lessons Lord Krishna wants me to learn from all of this. So far, I've come up with :

1. Appreciation. Although I constantly complain about how hard it is to work for home, I have (had) an opportunity to treat my service with the professionalism and dignity that it deserves. I could have seen this office as a gift from Krishna, a tool to get serious, and an external reminder of the kind of consciousness that I should be cultivating. Instead I let my mind (cluttered with laziness, childishness, and procrastination) ruin the office. I let the desk pile up with papers, the voice mail fill with unanswered messages, the "things to do" dry-erase board gather dust and stare ashamedly untouched back at me. I took my little haven for granted, and so perhaps Krishna gave it to those who can make better use of it.

2. Humility. Ants are tiny. In fact, when I noticed the first one marching across my desk a few weeks ago, I was more amused than startled. There was no way such a puny little creature could do any damage to me, even if I did (theoretically) accept the fact that within that fragile ant body was a spirit-soul that spiritually equal to me. A Vaisnava saying exhorts devotees of God to bow down with humility to all beings, "from the powerful demigods to the tiny, insignificant ant." To learn that lesson, along with my office space I've had to surrender my ego at the feet of these ants.

3. Tolerance. Just when I had started to settle into my ergonomic chair and get a bit comfy, Krishna threw me a curve ball. It seemed to be His clever way of chiding me: I bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? My child, there will always be something wrong, some problem or situation that is less than ideal, just to remind you that I am in control, not you. At those times, remember Me, let the world see how a devotee of Mine acts when faced with a challenge, and -- for My sake -- at least maintain a sense of humor about the whole thing! Srila Prabhupada famously wrote "One's greatness has to be estimated by one's ability to tolerate provoking situations." I have to admit, I didn't exactly handle this test with grace. I flailed my arms around, cursed, forgot what I had planned to do, and generally got thrown off my game. I've got a long way to go.

I write this blog entry from the safety of exile in the guest room. In my former office, now the headquarters for the Ant Liberation Movement, a charismatic young queen ant (I imagine her wearing a Che Guevera beret) directs the coup. I just hope that if she draws up strategic plans on the dry-erase board she doesn't use permanent markers.

.v.