Week 11 being true

Today as I sit at my desk and write, the sun smiles down from a summer blue, slightly hazy sky. Summer has arrived in all its wonderful glory, from blue skies to blue seas. And the remnants of winter and spring as a slight chill in the early mornings and late evenings that comes down from the mountains is a welcome respite from the burning mid-day heat. The snow on the distant mountain tops recedes each day, as their bare brown peaks are now exposed to the sky. The once fresh green of the trees is now mature and dark, existing as if no transformation ever happened. But even beneath the seemingly stillness of the majestic trees there is constant change. Change that is now imperceptible will become visible as seasons flow in and out of each other.

As a gardener I see the changes happen in the garden each day, sometimes even more than once within a day. The rose bud that was shut tight last evening now shows signs of unfurling in the early morning and coaxed by the warmth of the sun fully blossoms by the end of the day. The beauty that it holds within and then gives to the world is heartbreaking. The tiny heads of sweet peas that were still held within their green casks now shed them off to reveal a perfume that travels with the sun throughout the garden. Amongst all flowers, the poppy is perhaps the one that changes most dramatically, often blossoming and letting their petals droop within one single day. But that day is a glorious one, from the unfolding of their papery petals, sometimes still holding on to their green hood like a cap, to the various bees that feed happily in their laps and finally as the day closes the petals that drop to the ground, leaving behind upright tight green seed heads. Even the leaves of the almond and peach trees that were once new green have now become mature, older, deeper greener, hiding the fruits that will ripen as the season progresses.

Everywhere I look I notice how the garden changes, transforms, while remaining true, true to its nature, true to itself. Can I also remain true while going through change? Can I perceive the transformation as a natural progression that only requires me to remain who I am? How can two seemingly opposing thoughts be practiced as one? Just like in yoga, where the postures require two completely different attributes, the one of grounding, the other of lifting. The beauty lies in the fact that it is possible to be aware of everything which involves all the senses and become completely still within. While the changes and transformation are all the active aspects that happen, the true self that is profound stillness continues to remain still and true at the same time.

There is so much grace in and around us, it is not possible to comprehend all of it in our lifetime. There is so much beauty that we should let it spill from our lives to touch another. Each morning that awakens carries within itself a possibility, a possibility to experience life as a sea of impulses, some good, some bad, and the possibility to remain still, to remain true. Every evening invites us to weave our stories amongst the stars and watch how they move, how they change, how each step in our lives has their own voice, their own nuances. And each day, each moment we have the possibility to rest in our stillness, to remain true. And there is beauty in that.

While I remain still
the world moves on.
Sometimes,
I move with the world too,
for this existence and me
are one.

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