What a magnificent distraction surrounds us. We have duties and gadgets and people pulling on our sleeves. And there’s media we eat… a whole lot of packaged tragedy and comfort and we devour it like stoners eat cereal.
Anyhoo.
How about healthier options? Birds chanting for dawn. The relieving murmur of rain. Lately, I’ve had my eyes on Mars in the night sky. And how about we all imagine a full, wind-loving life for three little trees taking root on a nearby median?
It all exists: beautiful cosmos, bumblebees, fake meat and seltzer beer. The world is vast and full. It’s all divine and lots of someones in lots of somewheres love a bit of all of it. We’re beautifully versatile creatures.
Which means it’s on us to cultivate our wisdom about presence and absence. And, perhaps, to grow an appreciation for both.
Sometimes, presence can feel overwhelming. We may not like the content of the moment so we choose to escape. To me, the opposite of presence is escape.
Sometimes, absence may be heavy. We’re already lonely enough without contemplating falling leaves and receding friendships. We escape so we don’t have to accept the journey of all souls.
I believe the opposite of absence is to be home. We love our home and sometimes sigh or cry or wail when our friends, loved ones, and leaves depart. Still, home will bear the loss and keep us warm… if we choose to be present for every sweet parting.
Becoming present means honoring what’s been lost. Allowing absence means adoring the presence of what remains. A prayer we might utter is thank you. Again and again, thank you. Because every sacred moment of life wants our beautiful presence until it’s time for us to go. And everything we lose keeps an altar in our hearts well beyond that passage.
December Gatherings…
Saturday, December 3, 9-10:15am PST:
Please join me, my friends, to acknowledge what has come, what has gone, and how we’ve tidied up the home of our hearts to honor all of it. We’ll meet online to share in a practice of breath, movement, contemplation and discussion of our presence. This is a lovely way to clear ourselves for the quiet and cheer of solstice and the holidays.
Please send a note if you’d like to join and I’ll send you the link.
Saturday, December 10 from 12-1:30pm PST:
Please join me at the Cameron YMCA in Santee for a healing yoga workshop: The Holiday Heart. In this deeply restful yoga workshop, expect to find your body soothed, mind quieted, and heart lightened. This is a serene class, intended to bring you to a relaxed and receptive state in which you can sow your seeds of intention and consider how to nourish them through the winter.
Please sign up online and I’ll see you there!
This stream shares a prayer. This prayer is a poem. This poem is a message. The message calls my name. It sings to my heart. A child playing on her own. I listen and listen and weep...
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing
Thank you for offering these opportunities. Much love.