Breathe

I haven't thought of myself as a fragile person. It usually takes quite a commotion to ruffle my feathers.  I have worked hard over the years constructing a suit of armour, yet gaps remain like cracks or fissures through which afflictions sometimes seep.  The armour seems to seal up tightly after an attack letting little, if anything, back out.  The germ boring it's way deeper, spinning, digging and festering. 

It was a helluva weekend thanks to my armour malfunction and I write in attempt to open the armour and let it out.  After a couple of days of self-exploration, deep thought and observation I have come back to the realization that we are all so much alike.  We all have our armour and our fissures. We can choose to hold each other up, help build strength and unity or stab violently away at one another's armour spreading disease in the form of discord, hostility and division.

It is through the power of intention that we approach each and every thing we do.  A simple thought in our heads can drive us to success or defeat.  A simple action or word between us can affect our thoughts and the wheels of process begin to spin in motion.  We each affect each other, in the smallest or greatest of ways.  A subtle smile from a stranger, as tiny as it may seem, may turn a disavowing attitude in the opposite direction - in return causing a very slight vibration of positivity.

Take a minute, close your eyes and take three deep breaths.  Focus on the sensation of the air filling your lungs, then push the air out of your mouth.  Think about the other human beings on this planet.  Think about them breathing the same air you just pulled in through your nose to your lungs and exhaled.  Think about it again, and you are breathing the same air they breathed.  Go deeper, think more, breathe more if you need to.  We are the same.  We all have cracks in our armour.

Why can't we lift each other up, rather than try to pound each other down?  There is no one of us that is better than the other.  We are the same and our words and actions are like dominos.  And your ego - well, it's the same as the next person you meet.  Let's face it, we could all use some stroking.

Canadian geese fly in a Vee formation to maintain flight longer and move faster than if each goose was to fly alone.  They move in formation, taking turns being the front-runners while the geese behind honk to encourage the ones flying ahead.  When the point goose gets tired, he drops back in the formation and another goose takes the lead position.  Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation until they catch up with their group.

We should pay more attention to the geese, strive to be more like them.  Cheering each other on, working in accord to go faster - go further, taking turns being the leader and coming to the aid of the ones in need.  Breathing the same air in alliance, unity and harmony.

melodia

Summer Light

Soaking up the last of the summer light, I tried my best to say goodbye to summer.  Labor Day weekend here and gone and I'm still not ready to bid farewell to bright sun and warm breezes.  A friend of mine recently mentioned how the end of summer somehow seems to mark the beginning of another year to her.  I never really thought about it before, but I feel much the same way.  Winter is not completely horrible, it's just my desire to hold on to the last bit of what I consider the end of another year. 

A year ago, I was still smoking in my car and my house.  Although I have not managed to quit officially, I have managed to keep my habit outdoors with no plan on returning to my old ways.  A year ago, a good friend of mine was coping with an incredibly hard time in her life.  I have watched her grow and blossom in so many ways this year - and that makes me smile on the inside and the outside.  A year ago, I had an old and broken dog who I loved dearly and still miss everyday.  Now, I have a wild buffalo of a young dog who keeps me busy on a daily basis, picking up and repairing the day's destruction.  She is growing on me despite her frequent psychotic episodes. 

Maybe it's not so bad.  The end of another year.  Things changed, decisions were made, lessons were learned and in turn - growth.  It's the beginning of another year, the beginning of who knows what.  Goodbye summer light, hello tomorrow.

melodia