December tree

©2013 The Soulcerer's Apprentice

Last weekend I went to what is becoming my new sanctuary. It is a beautiful beach on the other side of the island I live in. It is quiet and full of peace.

I laid on the sand under this beautiful almond tree with a plan to finish a second reading of a book. That was not going to happen. What happened next was the kind of thing that we read about, but hardly experience. The breeze swept by, swirling leaves up off the ground, swaying palm trees into song in the background, cooling the waves...yet the tree remained still. I felt the December air stroke my skin and my hair, but the tree didn't budge. It wasn't rustled by the breathing of the beach.

As if shielding me from my own thoughts, from my own worries, the tree, strong and beautiful, let just enough streams of sun trickle through. I let go of the book. I let go of every thought. I laid there awakening. I felt alive and rested. I felt guided and held. I had no miracle thought. I had no light show experience. I just had a lifting of impediments to this quiet and mighty place within. Nothing changed without. I just had a different awareness.

When I returned to the city, I returned to my pace of life, to the list of pending issues, to my to-do list. This morning my body was feeling the pain of a few days without yoga, without proper rest and without nutritious food. My mind was feeling the pain of not sleeping well and ego fears and pressures. My heart was feeling the pain of disconnection from Spirit, from love, from goodness. I felt pain all over until, during meditation, I saw my December tree and it's warmth washed over me.

My to-do list is still here. Life's issues remain pending. Yet I am back to center where strength and  beauty reign, where stillness recharges my spirit, where silence whispers the truth: the wind blows, but we remain...strong, loved, protected, guided and inspired.