Naked

I'm au naturel on The Path today. Bare. Naked. Well, what I mean is I forgot to pick up my phone :-\ As my recording device of choice my first thought is what a relief! I don't have to write today - forgetting no one is forcing me. I'll have a nice stress-free walk instead - forgetting this is the whole point anyway. And so I am walking, empty-headed, light and free...for now. 

Before long I notice a sense of really wanting to slow the pace down. So, I get slower...and slower...and slower...but curiously it still isn't slow enough. I'm feeling a little ridiculous now. Thank goodness no one is in sight as I am determined not to be swayed by the presence of others on the path. A tough (inner) call when there is so much madness being played out! I realise if I go any slower I'll come to a halt. So I do. I take some time out, sitting on the frosty verge overlooking the field, sun-bathing for a while. Before I know it I am back on the path again. I don't actually remember making the decision to get up! So I guess whatever is going on it's not about stopping. I go as slow as I possibly can. There is a sense of trying to find my own rhythm. Ahhh, this feels better...though it could take forever to get home. As I gently pick up the pace a little I begin to feel lighter. Aha, so it's not so much about slowing down, as lightening up. Got it!

Return to emptiness.

I'm taking lots of photographs today. Pure joy.

Having so enjoyed capturing nature with my camera today I notice I am wondering whether I need to take a course in order to improve my photography skills. But actually, I notice I'd rather not. I really don't want, nor need, another set of rules to live by. Ok, I might learn about composition and lighting and perspective but the fact that I am even aware of these concepts feels like enough for me. If I take on board somebody else's version of the right way to do it I suspect I will be limiting my experience. Instead, I want to be free to explore for myself. Limitless. Without fear of getting it wrong. Left to enjoy the process of discovering what works for me. 

The walk nearly over, I notice there have been lots of red, lip-shaped leaves on the path today. So, there's something going on around intimacy. Intimacy offers us the opportunity to open up to our tenderness and vulnerability as well as our full-bodied passion. Both of which scare the life out of me! Either way it's all about being in contact. Touching one another (and indeed ourselves) in the softest most vulnerable of places. Lips, skin, genitals...heart. I realise my fear of intimacy can keep me out of contact, out of relationship, disconnected. And so I hear Nature's gentle reminder to stay in touch, first and foremost with myself. Not doing anything other than noticing when the natural urge towards contact, towards intimacy, arises from within.

Hey...and all this without the aid of a phone. Will the wonder of the human mind and heart never cease? ;-))

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