I sit outside on my deck … meditating. My mind is working to be aware of and then just as quickly let go of worries, stories, to-do lists. I breathe in… and out … deeply… restoratively. Now quieter, my mind cues my heart to open … and emotions flow. Grief I thought I had worked through tugs at my heart and springs forth in tears. Soon after, joy and gratitude spread like a warm cozy blanket over my heart…and just as quickly those feelings are replaced by worry and fear.
Then all at once it’s as if my ears awaken and I hear … really listen … to what’s happening around me. I hear the soothing sound of water continuously flowing, birds singing, the wind blowing through the trees …all in harmony. It’s peaceful, beautiful and calming.
Then came the buzzing of a bee zipping past me, around me … unsettling me, irritating me.
And then I took a metaphorical step back and realized something simple but profound … the buzzing bee and the soothing sounds of nature were all happening within the backdrop of my life in those sequenced and connected moments. And even more profoundly, I realized it was up to me what I wanted to focus on and bring to the forefront … the calming sounds of nature or the irritating buzzing of the bee.
Meditation is a practice, that when I remember to include in my life, always makes life more real, emotional, genuine and, well, more real and “alive”.
And today I realized that meditations are indeed like life itself; both meditation and this “day in and day out” we call life feel like familiar processes, but the truth is, we never know exactly what will arise. It may be that buzzing of an incessant and irritating bee one moment, and the calming flow and connective sounds of nature the next… and if we breathe and listen really well we can hear them happening all within the space and time of this grand adventure we call life .
Buzzing or flow? Irritation or calm? It’s a choice we can each make every beautiful moment of our lives. If you’d like guidance and support in creating more presence, calm and flow in your life begin that journey with a call to Full Circle Counseling Services today!
