Trees and Words

Today is the day I take down my Christmas tree. She has been standing beautifully in the corner of the lounge for the last 3 weeks ... glowing proudly ... shouting out in her own way about the excitement of the festivities. And still today she looks as amazing as she did on the first day. Somehow it feels wrong to stop this display of beauty. And yet the tradition says on the twelfth day the Christmas decorations should come down ... hum.  Not sure I want to follow tradition this year. I do want to express my utmost gratitude to this most magical of trees. It has been a blessing to share this home for a few short weeks.

Today besides gratitude, I have two words ringing in my ears ... patience ... and perseverance.

Patience is a quality that can be a challenge to practice, especially in these modern digital times when everything can feel so immediate. To wait is an eternity. Even the thought of waiting can feel unacceptable. No matter how fast our lives become or how immediate there is still a place for patience. Maybe that is what the slow movement is about, bringing us back to an appreciation of life by providing moments of slowness, stillness, gaps in time in which to notice, feel, breathe, connect with ourselves and our surroundings. In this sense patience is not waiting, it is being. Some say music is not the sounds of the notes from the playing of instruments, it is the spaces of silence between the sounds. Could life be the same way? Could life be the spaces between the experiences? Now I can appreciate the gift of patience.

Perseverance is a quality somewhat like patience. It has this added dimension of pushing on through. When the challenge feels overwhelming, impossible to conceive do we let go and surrender our dreams? There is always a time of letting go, night follows day, for the moon to rise the sun has to set. However, movement and change do not ask of us to give up our deepest love. When on a quest our adventures will take us into places of unimaginable darkness, we will be tested, taken to our limits and then some more. In these moments it is not so much about turning back, dropping the ball or surrendering our dreams. It maybe that we have to discover a new perspective, or dig deep to find the jewel in the mud or uncover the learning. That is perseverance. The willingness not to turn away from love and be overtaken by fear, hate, mistrust, anger or disappointment.

All of this is much easier to write than it is to practice. I notice myself everyday questioning, doubting myself and others, looking for the downfall rather than seeing the opportunity. I am human, not perfect, ever learning, ever growing.