On a quiet side street of my island home there are
dandelions and tall, weedy grasses and a tiny creek that dances over bits of
stone. It makes me happy to walk along this street, my senses open, my heart oh,
so wide. I like to see the things that no one else notices, to give them
my attention and to feel them plump up when I do. Like the tuft of grass in the
middle of the street.
I love him. I don’t know how he happened, but there,
suddenly, in the middle of pure asphalt, is mister tuft of happy green grass.
When neighboring lawns turn brown and coarse, he doesn’t. Here it is late
summer and still he’s his sweet self of lush green.
And then there is the Stop sign tucked behind the tree that
so few can ever see unless they get under the tree like I did. What color is the Stop sign, I asked my little girl. And now I ask you…what color is the Stop sign?
Is she really red? Or is she something more? Is she also white…with maybe a little
bit of tree juice mixed in there, too? What color is your Stop sign, the one
nearest to your home? She's not just red even if 99% of us say it is so. For we
forget to really see. To see the letters, to see the happenings, to see the
life of something we stop beside every single day.
When we take the risk, because it is indeed a risk, to look
closer and closer, the things around us begin to change. You see, it takes a
certain bravery to wait and just look when the rest of the world is in such a
hurry. But when we do, when we soften enough to step outside of our
self-centeredness, we open ourselves up to a realm of wonder where we are a part of something larger. That place where we connect not just
with a person or a people, but with the things around us too, that place, it emerges.
The You in you and the Me in me…walk into the light to guide us home. We are steered back to our center.
And all because we took the time to give our attention to
something.
A patch of grass
A Stop sign
Anything that finds its way into your path
Is your sacred ticket
To You.
14 comments:
I watched the season finale of an HBO program called 'Big Love' last night (yes, yes, I am waaaaaaay behind popular culture, it probably ended a year ago) and was startled by how compelling the main character was. I think, like suggested above, I 'stopped' and watched more carefully. And his comments/homily offered in his church kept running through my mind. Still there today. Stop and listen, stop and watch, stop... Good advice. I'll stop there, too...
We are busy, aren't we Michael? And I know you...you do stop and watch and listen. That's how you write such beautiful articles.:)
The thing is...I think I forgot how stopping and seeing helps me the most when I am struggling, when something in my life has let me stray from my deeper Self. Then...when I do remember to stop and see...I come back to mySelf, to my heart, and my struggle seeps away leaving flow, leaving the Me in me in its place...
Thank you Brynne for another sweet and inspiring story. When I first returned from Mexico this past June after a month long retreat, I was very quiet inside, so able to be in the moment and feel and see the vibration of life around me. As my days became busier with more demands my walks with my puppy were different - it was hard to shut down my mind and just be walking with her. We need to find these simple moments of quietude, these moments of deep healing and awareness. our true self - our essence - is still, and in this stillness nothing need be done - only witness and enjoy the play of life. The most adept can do this all the time, even in the most trying of circumstances. Every moment holds an opportunity for going deeper into the mystery.
Hi, Brynne. Nice to meet you yesterday at Andrea's book launch. This piece makes me think of the... (okay, here's the part where I say you'll think I'm crazy, which you might almost be getting used to) elemental spirit that seems to live around my house, that I've been trying to get to know better lately. There's a longer story to this. There are certain challenges, since she's incorporeal and doesn't exactly talk, but I've been setting out a teacup of water with a flower floating in it as an offering, and when I go out to address her each day, what I seem to get back – perhaps as a message, perhaps it's just the right thing to do – is to stop, wait, listen. I feel something; I hear something.
Thats exactly it for me, too, Nansee! If we don't work to quiet the mind, we risk missing soOO much! What a joy to read you, to connect with you in this realm! Thank you for sharing!:)
Brian!! I am heading over to read your blog soon...so sorry I haven't been there yet!
What FUN that your imagination is playful enough to invite your senses to pick up on elementals:) Whether she is there or not doesn't matter...what matters is that you are connecting with the quieter, more imaginative part of yourSelf and that in doing so...you are more alive, more awake, more You:) What JOY! Thank you for sharing, my friend!
I was trying to explain you to a friend the other day...your joy...words did not do you justice, but I think she got it anyways
You are such a dear and kind spirit, Jo. Thank you for always, always giving me joy, my friend. How I love you....:)
Lovely, Brynne! It's always neat to see those hardy plants that crop up out of a sea of concrete.
Deniz!:) I always think the same thing! There seem to be so many places on the side of the freeway where lone weeds and even flowers squeeze out thru cracks in the cement. They always make me smile. Little reminders of so many things...not least that we can blossom even in the most barren of situations:)
Always gives me happy feelings to find you here! Thank you, sweet girl!
My eyes are not simply the window to my soul, they are the barometer that portends how my souls is doing. I often look, but do not see. When I see though, when I mentally, soulfully, stop and see what is, not what I expect, I know I am on the right path. When I immerse myself in the day to day minutia of life and living, I am not 'me'. When I stop though, STOP, as you say, and see the beauty that the world shares with me, I know I am right with my soul and the world. When I see the small beauties that are unknown to the masses, I know I am on the path. The stop sign is mental, not physical, and colored all the colors of the rainbow. Red is but one part, of the whole that is life.
Oohhh...I cannot WAIT to post a video that I have been waiting to share...and your words...they give me yet another inch toward that post...thank you!! I love your words, my friend! Thank you for sharing!!
Brynne, ever since I stopped working outside of the home, I've been able to do exactly what you describe--observe, truly observe. And my goodness, it's a life changing practice. I see the world in a different way. Colors are brighter, details are ever present, sounds are sharper. I may be poor as a church mouse without a second income in this home, but I am grateful for the opportunity to look at nature, really look at it. This was such a beautiful post, my friend! You have the gift of opening our hearts, eyes, and mind to the magic around us. I hope we'll be friends forever! Hugs! :)
So then...how do we ALL do this, dear Bella...whether we work or not? How do we see even when we are busy? Do we carve out silent time in the midst of work? Do we go to our sacred space whilst surrounded by chaos? Or do we just stop for a breath every now and again to see, truly see? How do we all get to see the magic of our world, my friend? Maybe we need to work less...maybe we need to breathe deeper...maybe we need to slow down..maybe we need to buy less and be...more. Maybe we all have our own paths that just need to be heard and honored.
And friends? Always, amiga. Thats a given:) Love you, mamacita.
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