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Friday, May 13, 2011

Rainy Day Walk

Yesterday morning I woke up – content… Surprised me actually. I almost never wake up feeling content with life, or life situations. The mind was evidently still asleep, which was fine by me! PLUS - :) it was raining for the second day in a row. That always brings contentment and a sense of aliveness to this being… We’ve been in extreme drought conditions here, the worst in years, so I was particularly enlivened to see rain for two whole days! I wanted to be out in it!

I grabbed the hooded winter parka and camera and drove about 10 mins to my usual walking place, that I haven’t been to yet this Spring, delighting in being out in the pouring rain, snapping pictures. And then I realized the camera was getting wet, and that I was out on the path all alone. The mind woke up: What if I’ve ruined the camera! I’d better be more vigilant about my surroundings. Check for keys and cell phone in pocket. I kept walking, occasionally looking over my shoulder – snapping photos for almost an hour. A lone jogger passed by. He looked safe enough. We said hello, and I watched to make sure he kept going.

On the way home in the car I realized I was so busy taking pictures that I never stopped to be still in the rain; to feel it’s splatters on my face, or hear it’s patter on my hood, to *really* listen to the Silence of Nature all around me. I sensed It in the background, but didn’t stop and revel in It. I was narrowly focused on the path, looking for things to take pictures of, but not really *seeing.* I considered going back to do the walk again, but I was already soaked. It reminded me that this is sometimes how I go through life – narrowly focused on a particular task, event, or circumstance, with a particular lens of interpretation, with some kind of filter in front of my face – like fear, anxiety, worry, caution, disgruntledness, judgment, anger - never really *seeing* Life; never really opening completely to that sweet child-like innocence of play, of enjoyment, even contentment. I felt a twinge of sadness with this realization, and stuck it in my awareness folder for next time: “Be sure to be fully *aware* of Life.” “Just stop.” “Be still.” “Listen.” “Really SEE Life.”

So here is a small montage of a walk in the rain through the camera lens. Hope you enjoy the rain as much as I do. The opening photo for the post at top was actually taken out my “sitting window” from Wednesday evening. Those below are from the walking path…








11 comments:

  1. Thank you for these beautiful photos Dear Christine and for you insights on 'missing Life'. I think it was Maria who humorously quipped that she forgot if she had washed her hair! Exactly. How does one see through persistently difficult and sticky thoughts? Is that even possible? It's one thing to wake up sitting on a beach and quite another on a seeming battleground.
    Love,
    Leslie

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  2. Beautiful pics, Christine!
    I go out on walks with my camera, too; I think it's an "artist" thing to get wrapped up in outer seeing, looking for beautiful pictures. Over the years, I've learned to switch back and forth between the deeper opening and the narrow focus. Our lenses are built for this stuff!
    Much love,
    Maria

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  3. Dear Leslie ~ "How does one see through persistent sticky thoughts?" My experience is to just keep coming back to Awareness, until That becomes the reality, and not seeing the "sticky thoughts" as "wrong" or something bad. Maria makes a really good point in her comment, if I interpret it right, that it's not a matter of either/or, but using all our many lenses to *see*, and nothing is "missed." My mind tricked me again into thinking I was missing something! :) Love, Christine

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  4. Maria ~ Thank you for your wonderful point here! Hadn't "seen" it that way... And actually while I was being *in* the moment there wasn't a problem, wasn't a thought about the difference in the way I was seeing. There was just seeing. Only afterwards did I make the distinction and the judgement about the experience! Thank you for the wonderful perspective, as always :) Big Hugs...

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  5. Big Hugs...to both of you. ♥

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  6. lovely pix and ah yes I recognize this, the doing takes over the being! and I had to chuckle because it's all so relative. When I started reading your post I thought, ha, rain, you can have ours! (we are all howling for some warmth and sun on the wet coast these days)

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  7. ZDS ~ And then this morning I realized that the doing was also the being. It was the mind that created the separation, the difference. I *was* totally being in the moment! I *was* the Silence! :) And then I *believed* I was separate...

    Yes, being in rain wishing for sun, or vice-versa. Sounds like Genju's (108zenbooks) post on gratitude by comparison, i.e.: I am grateful for this lovely rain, but at least we aren't getting the flooding in the midwest type thing.

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  8. "And then I *believed* I was separate... " -- ahhhhh....pooh! I'm going to window sit that one out :) xoxo

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  9. Meet you there :) (That pesky mind, always causing trouble - believing in separation) :)

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  10. Beautiful pictures of your walk in the rain, and thank you for the gentle reminder of how important it is to stop and be present in the stillness. I rarely do this... unless I am within nature and away from the business of life, the computer, the cell phone. I had an opportunity to be still and present this weekend, and what an amazing feeling it left me with.

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  11. Thank you Kristen... I also enjoyed reading about your weekend workshop/retreat with Natalie Goldberg and the awareness and insights you gained... It's amazing what is revealed when one listens to the inner landscape :)

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