Wild Musings:
In a matter of a few minutes, we could probably tell someone who knew nothing about us the basic pattern of our days. It would be a broad brush stroke, but pretty easy to lay out what goes into a typical day — from morning routines to the day to day of work, children, pets, caring for loved ones, friends, our intentions around exercise, and other things that make up a “normal” day. What would get missed in the broad brushstroke, however, is the sweetness, the messy parts, the little details that put color into the picture.
A Wild Dare?
Spend a little time with the details. The act of noticing is a woefully unacknowledged practice and gift we can give ourselves. Noticing, in the course of a day, what brings life and light with it, what feels heavy and plodding. I have surprised myself with my assumptions in these areas, when, on closer examination, some things that I would have put in the colorless category actually challenge me in ways that are quite life-giving. So your dare is to see, to look, to notice the little things that make up your day. And to be open to noticing all of it, and questioning your assumptions around what truly brings…or doesn’t bring… your wild self to life.
It would be hard to argue the perfectness of this day.
Deep blue sky, gentle clouds scattered about,
summer-cool air with low humidity flows in the light breeze.
Shoulders, of their own accord, relax their protective hunch.
Eyes look with curiosity in the soft light
lingering on the pallet of colors this season reveals.
Birds, crickets, and frogs rival the city sounds of engines.
And the air smells warm and green.
Rivers have receded back to within their banks
leaving the story of their flooding —
flotsam and jetsam that was carried to new heights —
as a graphic reminder of how far the water surged.
And life goes back within its boundaries as well
practice schedules and routines briefly interrupted
return almost without notice.
But the peace of this day is worth noticing.
Is worth a pause on the now dry trails
to look at the cattails and driftwood
littering the once clear path;
to see the water mark high on trees and bushes
where the river reached.
This ebb and flow
the rising and receding
the surge and the settledness
are all worth noticing.
Our natural world offers great rewards
for the simple act of seeing.
Not just the beauty, but also the mirror:
the way the river, wild, alive, and ever changing
reflects our own sometimes peaceful, sometimes turbulent lives.
A kinship and connection with something so different from ourselves
and yet so familiar,
a snapshot of our own wild and ranging and willing spirits.
