I am settling in after my latest out-of-town adventure. Fortunately, I have a three-day weekend, this week.
Friday was a catch-up day for my correspondence (at least most of it!), yesterday was house cleaning-yuck. Over the years, this has never become more endearing to my heart–go figure!
I showered and changed clothes after I was finished cleaning. Having nothing pressing to do, I decided to sit on the white wicker settee in the bay window of my living room. Sunshine was pouring in the window after a gloomy morning, and I leafed through a plant catalog where I had, some time ago, earmarked a few pages.
Low and behold, I caught myself dozing, then gave into the sensation. I cannot tell you when I have felt this calm and quiet–it has been a while. May be that second (tiny) cup of coffee has been the culprit in the last couple of months; my sleep schedule has been very disrupted. I have been careful not to have caffeine in the afternoon; I have been deluding myself about that quarter cup of coffee (really, that is all it is!).
Today’s photo is of my friend, Renee from South Florida. She is a yoga instructor, and is the most enlightened person I have ever known. I always felt calmer in her presence.
I was planning to use Renee’s photo in my book Water Running Downhill!, for the following poem. Unfortunately, every time I convert her photos to black and white I have issues. It is her lovely white hair. I have trouble with black and white photos when I am using a subject with black or white. Admittedly, this needs work.
Here is the poem!
THE ZONE
While sequestered as a willing tenant in
Your self-made prison of busyness
Dream of ways you can be free
To give yourself the gift of
A precious few moments, no distractions
Lock out your outer “life” and meditate
Find that it is almost a new experience, as
You may have forgotten the sensation
Of pure awareness, and nothing else
So used to being the “amazing balancing act”
You have found it hard to stop doing and planning
And just become still
Discover that one can see so much clearer
When traveling at
The speed of now
Joan Ellen Gage 