In this skin, there is challenge.
In this skin, there is weakness.
In this skin, there is pain.
In this skin, I know the frailty of my humanity.
This skin, at times limiting and restricting, full of imperfections, is also the container that holds me, that cradles my every thought and feeling, the heart of my being.
In this skin, I know nourishment.
In this skin, I sense and feel fully.
In this skin, I explore edges and learn boundaries.
I know full contentment when I allow it, in this skin.
Can you turn your face to the wind and welcome it?
Does the air upon your face invite inquiry?
Opening all of your senses to each moment can be so freeing, exhilarating, curious, pleasantly undefinable.
Relaxing into the current of wind pulsing against my face, I need no answers, I need no direction.
Turning into the wind reminds me what it is to be alive in this body at this time.
Close your eyes, relax your cheeks, open wide and invite the winds of life to press into and delight you.
I breathe in…
inspire…
inspiration…
awakening inner wisdom with the breath.
Stress and agitation squeeze that breath. In the absence of breath, there is no action…
Stagnant…
Stagnation…
No connection …
Nothing flows.
I am stuck…until I exhale.
With the exhale, the dam of emotions is released…
tension dissipates.
The breath comes rushing back in. As if startled awake, I tune once more into my source.
Inspired action always takes me back to joy!
Photo credit:
Inspired by Jack Blackwell. So grateful, Jack, for your sharing your photography talents here!
Tucked into the crevices,
Buried between the rocks and sand,
Are little moments,
Precious little glimpses of life’s greatest gifts hiding just beneath the surface.
I could easily pass them by if not for the jagged edges that reach up, poking at my being.
This uneven landscape calls for greater awareness.
I draw upon my deepest core for balance so that the pressure and discomfort do not become too great.
Those jagged edges remind me that I have not chosen the easy path, but I am capable of walking this path just the same.
Those jagged edges belong to the moments that will require the greatest courage and persistence, but unquestionably will cause rise to the fullest form of me.
I love finding joy in unusual places.
In the raindrop that pokes my cheek and the wind that tosses my hair.
In the pattern of seeds that accidentally scatter on the floor.
In the slow looking that comes with the crowd of cars extending my commute.
In the exhale.
Here I am in my natural state of being. I feel no urgency, only a sense of calm and strength. I begin to know the essence of love.
Maybe finding joy is my super power.
I no longer have weekdays and weekends. I simply have days.
I no longer have good days or bad days. I simply have days.
Some days feel heavier and on those days I go slow.
Some days feel lighter and on those days I shine a bit brighter.
Whether heavy or light, I live fully and freely in each day.
It feels better to live without labels.
Instinctively, as I get caught in the tugging, dragging, pulling pressure of the rip tide, I tense, tighten, and fight for control. I can’t see it but I struggle violently against this force that seems bigger than me. Then, just when all seems hopeless, I let go. I allow the tide to carry me.
Suddenly now I am floating on its surface instead of kicking against its hold on me. Instead of feeling I have lost control, I trust the waters to carry me.
Just then the fighting stops. When I release the resistance, I gain my freedom.
The current carries me farther and farther out but I relax more and more into the rocking motion of the water and the excitement of going somewhere new.
And then the current changes. I gradually float closer to the shore. I arrive not in the same place but still me, having lost nothing by giving up that control.
I stand at the water’s edge now wondering what other hidden currents are calling me to let go of resistance in order to arrive at some place new.
