This morning I opened Billy Collins book Water, Water, to learn from the poem “Winter Trivia” that “It takes approximately two hours for a snowflake to fall from a cloud to the ground.” He then goes on to consider what he and his wife do in the two hours that a snowflake falls from cloud to ground.
I’m with that as I sort through the journey of the day, considering passage, transition, coherence, communion, and connection.
In the poem “The Cardinal” Billy Collins writes:
They say a child might grow up to be an artist
if his sandcastle means nothing
until he leads his mother over for a look.
And so, it is for each of us to mother what we do, to be artists in creating our lives as we flow from cloud to ground, and rise back up again, delighting in the dance of impermanence and change.
Flower and FruitBe like water and MirrorRoot, Rise, Ground
A friend recommended the movie The Penguin Lessons. I love it. I was then inspired to read the book The Penguin Lessons by Tom Mitchell that inspired the movie. There are similarities, yes, a wonderful penguin, who changes people’s lives, but there is much more in the book, so I recommend both with maybe the book second, though who knows. Notice what draws you.
Meanwhile, enjoy this poem by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.
Spring Awakening
One day you wake up able to name the weight you’ve been carrying.
Realizing it’s not part of your body or your being, not essential in any way to journeying or joy, you set it down gently, without fanfare in the long soft grass at the side of the road and walk on
Surprised to find yourself smiling in the warm sun for no particular reason.
I was on a Sensory Awareness Zoom call this morning. One person on the call lives in Santa Monica and the other in Pasadena. It’s unfathomable what they are experiencing, and though their bags are packed if they need to evacuate, so far they are still in their homes, but among those they know, they are among a few so blessed. Family members and friends have lost their homes, and it continues, and the air is burning their lungs.
One thing not being mentioned is how those who work in the restaurants and businesses are affected. Their jobs are gone. These are people who may not have the finances to carry them through this. The other clear statement is that this level of tragedy is a result of climate change. Robert Hubbell wrote of living in his house for 46 years and never before hearing the thundering sound of hurricane force winds.
Somehow this country elected a man, a liar and felon, who denies climate change. It’s sobering and yet the work of Sensory Awareness helps ground those of us who work with the practice of it.
Today the question was asked and answered. Why do we do this work? Intimacy! Intimacy with ourselves, others, and the world. It’s about connection and discovery. We may say we know something like the palm of our hand, but do we actually know the palms of our hands? Have we really looked at them, touched them, felt how different they are from each other as they open, close, and extend?
Today we were asked to bring a pebble or small stone to the call. I brought a stone I picked up yesterday at Stinson Beach. I chose it because it was protected by another larger rock from being washed out to sea with the next big wave. Today, as I examined my stone without looking, only touching, I felt its intricacy and complexity. When I brought it to my face, I was struck by the softness of the stone, the receptivity and connection of face and stone.
We are all affected by these fires. The trauma and pain affect us all. We’re connected in experiencing what binds us all: earth, water, fire, and air, the elements by which we’re formed and shared.
Water and sand meet at the beach – intricacyNature’s art in water and sand – Formations and patterns on the beachA Sandpiper walksWaves and Rocks
We celebrate the heart today, Valentine’s day. Birds are twittering and gathering as a new season comes to light. Though a pink candy heart says “Be Mine”, I see “Be Ours” as we meet to expand in connection, togetherness, and delight.
Teilhard de Chardin in The Divine Milieu:
Throughout my life, through my life, the world has little by little caught fire in my sight until, aflame all around me, it has become almost completely luminous from within.
Ducks in the marsh February, 2023Heart RevealReflectRevel
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