A Deliberate Gift

First I dropped my keys… then a water canteen… and finally a bag of mandarins slipped from my arms while transitioning from my car to the back door of the Center. Watching my recent farmer’s market produce roll under my car, I paused. A deep sigh proceeded as I detected a pattern as of late.

“Holding more than I could possibly carry,” I recalled what I often convey to my Mindfulness Meditation class about slowing down, transitioning more mindfully, and letting go of excess. Calling to mind this advice I gently leaned back, tilted my head up and noticed what was hovering, inviting, directly above. A slate blue sky with puffy cumulus clouds offered a landscape of grandeur. Drawing in my breath and exhaling slowly I felt a slight shift occurring. I found comfort in recalling Mary Oliver’s words, “Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.” The scene provided a noble prompt on a familiar story of my smallness in this life.  Feeding my soul with nature’s most potent medicine allowed for the space between my earlobes and shoulders to widen.

Note to self….pause, breathe, proceed.

I began realizing it wasn’t so much work or holiday stress that was the culprit of my mindlessly going about the day.  Something else was being stirred on a much deeper level requiring deliberate action.  The following day I decided to bring in vigil candles to our Wednesday morning meditation class. Soon after meditation finishes, we light the candle of the person sitting beside us, silently offering one another a blessing or a prayer and then gift one to ourselves. We remain still, quiet, reverent.

It came to me that day I gazed up at the sky after fumbling around in transition. I needed to create more space for stillness, silence and to honor one another and myself. There is an awful lot of noise being generated “out there” right now. Much spewing of anger, hate, disrespect and unsettledness reverberates at a higher frequency than I can recall in some time. Layers upon layers of stress created by internal and external influences need our attention before we lose touch of what is most vital to our wellbeing and our capacity to love more deeply.  Now more than ever with the holidays upon us, we are all reminded to take heart, to notice, to awaken our senses with that of which heals and restores our spirits. Amongst the hullabaloo, the pressure and all the trappings there resides a tender whisper to pause. A tug at our hearts imploring us to feel the breeze against our cheeks, to look up and hone in on that which invigorates our senses. Perhaps, we can light our own candle in hope to attain peace within ourselves, for the world and become more deliberate with creating quiet moments amidst all the “noise.”

May all beings everywhere With whom we are inseparably connected And who we want and need the same as we do, May all be liberated, healed, fulfilled and free. ~ Lama Suyra Das

Blessings for peace. Pause, Breathe, Proceed, Patti