It all started with a question as I stood in awe looking up at some majestic trees one Spring or Fall. “Can you see the beauty and not the form?”
Can I see the qualities beyond or beneath the story my brain recites?
I highly recommend this practice. It does something ineffable in the energy body.
Can you see the beauty and not the trees? The ancient stability and not the rocks? The tenacity and not the reeds clinging to the dry riverbed?
Can you see the eager anticipation and not the cars speeding by? The mystery and not the water gurgling under the crust of ice? The creative chaos and not the winter garden?
Can you see the order and not the parking lot? The willingness to let go and not the garbage bins? The sense of community and not the crowded coffee shop?
Am I being silly yet?
Can you feel the love with which the Earth receives your step by step? The hope in the spaces between the clouds? Spring in the bird song in a distant tree? A sense of belonging in the woodsmoke?
The river is iced over, sparking, fresh. Someone has dared to tramp a path across it. Not me. I am careful as I crunch along the dirt path. But I can’t help but toss a rock onto the surface to see if the crust will crack like 10-year-olds have done before me.
The whole world is muted and waiting. Can you feel the life blooming beneath the gray winter day? Does it feel true and how do you know?
Happy walking, everyone. Your attention is a blessing. If you know this life sparkles like the snow.