My walk was short this morning. I scrambled up rocks, between prickly bushes, over deceptively fluffy grass.
I stepped on a stone half my size. It slipped, slid, careened down the slope and nearly took me with it. I pushed through bushes I thought would be soft, and my skin was snagged and scratched.
I saw no way out of the inhospitable hedge. My legs stung, my smartwool ripped, my hands burrowed deep into my pockets, hiding from the angry flora.
I couldn't find my balance. Rock after rock wobbled underneath me. Plant after plant reached out with bitter branches. I seriously considered just turning around and scampering helter-skelter down the hill.
And then I remembered to breathe. Then I remembered to be still.
What now?
I found a rock wall and scrambled up, placing my feet as delicately as possible to avoid bringing the wall down underneath me.
It was a new perspective. I saw an open path further down the hill. No brutal brush to block the way.
But I had to get a few cuts and scrapes on the way in order to find this perspective. I had to leave my usual way and play with something new.
You've all been playing with new things this week. New ideas, new routines, new people, new practices. I'm sure some of you have felt rocks shifting underneath your feet and felt a little bit overwhelmed or a little bit lost. I know I have. This has been one of the most full, challenging, encouraging weeks of my life as a vagabond adventurer.
And now I have a new perspective of what my life can be. Blockages have shifted and I've discovered a deeper understanding of the paths available to me. Limitations have been explored and I've found a new edge.
Where am I more open? What can I see, hear, feel, taste, touch now?
I encourage you to spend this practice, this day thinking about a new perspective. When you return to your day-to-day life, see if you can think about your routines before just falling back into them. See if you can analyze your habits. What do you do simply because it's easier to follow your old footprints than to create new ones?
Like trudging through deep snow. It's simpler to walk where you've walked before.
I encourage you to make new prints. Move in a new direction.
Imagine yourself standing on the wall. You can see the broken branches and the overturned rocks marking your journey here. To this place. To this body. To this mind. See your old path from where you stand.
Do you want to fall back into old habits? are they consistent with the person you are in this moment?
I used to be shy. I used to be so shy that I'd have a panic attack every time my mother asked me to make a phone call.
I used to fear getting lost. I was so afraid that I'd never drive anywhere new and always drove home the same way.
So afraid that I never felt free to explore a new path.
These aspects of my personality were inconsistent with the person I felt I was. Were inconsistent with how I wanted to flow through life.
What path can I take that will help me change these things?
Travel. I can travel. I can get lost and learn to love it. I can talk with people and learn to feel confident. The path of travel with help the outside become more consistent with the inside. More harmonious.
Stand on the wall. See the paths stretching out before you. From this perspective, choose one that will set you in the direction of harmony. Harmony of thought, action, spirit.
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