From the Neuzeit Tarot, Death; from Rory's Story Cubes, Abacus:
All things already have their endings within them. If we become attuned to this, then we can appreciate the moment. We can appreciate the extraordinary fact of our unique and precious lives.
—Thanissara
As one philosopher put it, we always know when we're doing something for the first time but not the last. When we think it's an 'ordinary' day, our attention is likely to be in the future and what's to come rather than what currently occupies us. Even as I type these words, part of me is thinking about the walk I will take this morning followed by a trip to the lab for blood work. But now I pause... tasting my coffee, listening to the sounds of my husband sleeping and feel of the breeze from the fan. Maybe those things are not extraordinary, but they are sacred. The Abacus, or counting frame, is a reminder to take stock of these simple but good things on a regular basis.
Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.
—Fyodor Dostoevsky
