Aloha Friend!
Let's Walk Around
Honolulu Today
and Look at all the Tall Buildings
Click on the buildings to see them grow!
"In the depth of winter,
I finally learned
that within me the lay
an invincible summer."
Camus
"People in the West are always getting ready to live."
Chinese proverb
"If you constantly think of illness,
you eventually become ill;
if you believe yourself to be beautiful,
you become so."
Shakti Gawain
It's a good time for a fresh look at what we value; not with our words, but in our day to day actions.
We post-moderns have gained much materially, but we have surrendered lots of the real texture, flavor and meaning of life.
Now the spell of "more & more" seems to be melting away.
But the things left standing are the real life treasure:
a warm bed, a healthy body, family & friends,
a quiet moment to contemplate the night sky,
while riding the earth as it ticks off time in seconds and in ages. . .
Sure there will always be day-to-day details,
but we've seem to have taken our eyes off of the treasure
to specialize in details, and we have become dull.
As I go about renegotiating the values in my life
a passage comes to mind:
"They shall mount on eagles wings."
This is a heroic cliche` of an image to someone who lived in a city.
But once I got to Hawaii and watched the IO, the red tailed Hawaiian Hawk, circling over the Big Island, what I saw was a bird going around in circles. They don't fly straight to the heights like a superman, or a rocket. No. As in a flying meditation they retrace the same circumscribed repetition in the sky. Over and over. But I noticed something else too: each circuit takes them imperceptibly higher and higher till they are friendly with the snow covered tropic mountain, Maunakea, and conversant with the clouds and early moon.
Finally, their view is unrestricted.
Stress and striving don't buy them that view.
They attain it by following their true nature.
Perhaps the groaning of the world economic system
will lead us to lives of paradoxical richness?
But just for right now: go outside into nature.
(after you leave your comment ;-)
Play with a child, pet, or childlike adult who you know well,
or just this moment met.
Stop and breathe and go to your heart.
All the answers you need are there patiently waiting.
I've found that stress defeats itself.
Believe me: the experiments were exhaustive and went on for years!
So take it from me: Walk the gentle path . . .
and you may just find yourself spiralling into control. . . effortlessly. Mounting on the wings of your grateful heart.
A L O H A! Cloudia
