Limited Performance Without Limits

No slight intended to the animators at Disney, certainly I have been entertained at one time or another by any number of their epic features, characters and soundtracks, however, it truly doesn't hold a candle to my "real life" versions.

I have described in previous blog posts the stirring hikes, nature sits, or otherwise just engaging with the world as I am listening to "random music" on my iPod. Today would be another such occasion. I had just finished a great workout and was coming back toward my place and came through the Garry Oak meadow (that again is frequently featured in my posts) I had intentionally brought along an energy bar, an apple and a smoothie to enjoy in the park. I knew that I would be hungry by then having not eat prior to the workout.

I scaled the flight of stairs that led to higher ground, which includes a rocky knoll that I like to meditate/contemplate upon. As I climbed the stairs I was struck with appreciation for my body and the ease with which it tackled the incline. It felt good to be enjoying the incremental return of fitness. I recalled that through parts of the previous year I had experienced what was at times, quite debilitating lower back pain. While at it's worst it was necessary to employ different forms of adaptation in order to put on socks, deal with shoe laces (slip on shoes became preferable) or deal with other routines of foot care. The cause of this given the multifaceted levels of being human was varied and not the scope of this post. It proved to be another wake-up call for me. Without any intention to "get on my case" my observation is that my journey through or with life, seems to be one of an ongoing series of these sort of calls. My attention is drawn to one spoke on the wheel through some form of wake-up experience and while I adapt and integrate that, I'm shown I am still "hitting snooze" somewhere else.

It was incredulous for me to consider that at one time "I" in this vary same body, used to play "back-catcher" which required one not only to assume a full squatting position (to offer the pitcher a "target" behind homeplate) but also one had to be very agile from that same stance, ready to spring up in an instant to chase a wild pitch or field a foul ball. The Garth Brooks song - "I'm Much too Young to Feel This Damn Old" was an apt metaphor at that time.

Fast forward to the present and once I perched myself on the hill top I squatted there for a while, as with a teaching I just heard from a First Nations dancer about crow (which he shared to introduce the "crow dance") it was said that crow sometimes hops to where it is going - "Just because it can," for the pure joy of it!

I stood up again and just as I was surveying my surroundings (the hilltop offers a panoramic view) the song "Circle of Life" began to play - I felt my heart open as I took in the beauty both near and far. A rush of emotion flowed freely through me and I marveled at how once again the music I was hearing became the "soundtrack" and all that surrounded me including me, came into sync with the peaks and valleys of the music. I sat down and looked up and to my right ...... "Circle, the circle of life" and a new character had entered "stage right" a hawk circled, effortlessly gliding on the rising thermals. It's continued circular flight tracked gradually further away, until it appeared to have been ingested by the sky.

One song concludes and another begins each piece of music cues in succession, the various dancers in natures ballet. I watched hummingbirds rocket skyward and pirouetting back and forth across center stage. Then there was a single dragon fly that dove from above it's iridescent body and wings brilliantly reflecting the morning sunlight. Then it was joined by a second dancer - theirs was to be an aerial tango. Admittedly I don't know what it means - just the same (insert idiom to feign Hipness) they were "killing it."

There were other birds (I'll call "chickadees" that at times flew so close to me I seemingly could have touched them). The back drop all the while, was a rich sky blue which had in various quadrants been airbrushed with wisps of white cotton candy. Then the finally appeared overhead a bald eagle in mature adult regalia deftly maneuvered with ease as two crows chased it around. The crows certainly seemed to be exerting far more energy as their wings were constantly flapping in order to keep up the chase and while the eagle just banked left or right to change direction, the crows seemed unable to soar in kind. Just the same, what they might have lacked in aerodynamics, they certainly more than made up for with tenacity. All the while as this dance continued (which may well have involved the crows ensuring the eagle was not allowed anywhere near their nest) the eagle was unable to gain any headway on the two crows, that were like a pair of border collies herding sheep. They "escorted" the eagle beyond where I was able to see them any longer.

For me, an exquisite teaching in being here now & appreciating deeply all that I see - though there will be another feature performance at the same venue another day, the same combinations of events is not to seen again.