There are very few words or thoughts on The Path today, just a subtleness. A surrender. An all-inclusiveness. Noticing the busy bees collecting pollen and the slow inching along of the dark, slimy slug there is a feeling of everything going at its own pace. As for me, I am happy somewhere between the two. Daring to lean back a little into the flow. Letting myself be carried. Noticing what a tangled, and beautiful, web we weave xx
How is your pace feeling today?
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![]() Before I started The Path today I was feeling buoyant. Care-free. That was, until I came across a couple of mistakes I'd made with regard to something that was important to me. Something that I care about. Something that is too late to undo. One error was use of the word er instead of her, twice! As I walk along I reassure myself of the old adage: To err is human...but to err twice is just plain careless I catch myself adding, with contempt. The shame I feel is consuming. There is sh*t on the path today. One dollop then another, though it is pretty hidden amidst the foliage. You'd have to be looking for it to see it. Just like my mistakes. I went looking for them for no apparent reason and ended up bursting my own bubble of joy. What was the point of that! I chastise myself. Well, I know the answer to that one in a heartbeat. Whether we can see it or not, the single point is always Love. So how does that translate in this case I wonder? I notice that although little things (like a mistake) can make a big difference it is not necessarily the "mistake" itself that is the problem but the energy invested in worrying about about it. The tendency to blow it out of proportion. For self-recrimination. To irrationalise. There certainly is an art to not over-investing. Not caring. Perhaps the lesson here is our freedom to choose. To keep breathing and walking through the discomfort of our perceived errors. Perhaps even, trusting that they are not really errors at all but some kind of divine opportunity. These particular '"errors" have helped me understand myself a little deeper, release more sh*t. Allowed me to see caring is not always a good thing. Simply an investment. Showing me not only where love is but where it is lacking within. And so, with a deep breath and a big smile of relief I continue on my way, once again choosing to be carefree. ![]() I am pretty overwhelmed as I begin the walk today. Still feeling the pressure of deadlines, duties and responsibilities I notice I am absent-mindedly pacing up the hill. I am writing a book and in this moment it is feeling just too big to pull together. I really want to complete it. But I'm tired. So why, I wonder to myself, am I marching myself up the hill right now? Slow down, I reassure myself, gently. As I do lessen the pace, I notice the abundance of nettles along The Path. Yup! I am certainly stinging a little today. Feeling sore. Then I notice the dock leaves, the antidote to nettle stings, that nature always cannily places nearby. It makes me think about the solution always being within the problem. It's ironic - my book is about the wisdom of walking in nature and here I am marching along stressing to get it finished. Realising my book is the problem and the antidote I decide to take some of my own medicine and surrender to the beauty of the walk. Already I feel much calmer. What a re-leaf! What do you do to get yourself back in the flow? |
AuthorTrained in a depth, buddhist-based psychotherapy, using everyday outer world experiences to develop inner wisdom, one day at a time. Archives
September 2015
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