Wednesday, March 18, 2015

ENGAGING THE SPRING BRAKE


            Once again, our family didn't go anywhere or do anything special for Spring Break this year. No trip to the Gulf coast or Big Bend. No major house-maintenance project. Instead, we just took advantage of those few days when our teenager didn't have to go to school, and Zet didn't have to work as much as usual, in order to hang out at home, alone together. "Just chilling," as our son might say.

 BEING AT HOME
            Now that Mateo is a sophomore with his own interests, we don't get to hang out together as a family very often, so it was delicious to simply be around each other, moving through separate orbits that intersected periodically during the course of the week. Taking naps. Going for long walks through our neighborhood. Watching a movie on Netflix. Cooking favorite foods.

BEING OUTDOORS
            But the thing I enjoyed most was sitting quietly outdoors for a few minutes at a time. Not "doing" anything. Just sitting without a purpose. Not even meditating, breathing consciously or doing Tai Chi Chuan or any of the other re-energizing spiritual practices that I often do. This was different. Just doing absolutely nothing. No big deal. Simply sitting silently for a bit, observing the breeze stirring the trees, the clouds swirling in slow motion, birds flitting around building nests.
         Stepping outside of the whirlwind of accomplishing tasks and accumulating treasures that seems to consume so much of my time and energy. Watching as the budding leaves seem to sprout from the bare branches right before my very eyes. Placing my bare feet on the earth, feeling the delicious combination of the cool, green grass below, the bright, warm sun above and sweet, crisp air all around, taking my breath away time and again, with the sheer freshness of it all.
         It seems to me that this is prayer in the broadest, deepest sense: sitting in silence and contemplating the magnificence of creation, unfolding within and around us. Moving beyond the limited, linear thinking of daily routines into the limitless vastness of the Divine, being made manifest everywhere I look, if only I'm willing to see with fresh eyes.

BEING GRATEFUL
           It feels great to take such a "Spring Brake" periodically. As in putting on the brakes. Pausing long enough to get grounded by physically connecting with ourselves, with our surroundings, with Mother Earth, and simply feeling grateful for all of it. Ahhh... 
          I really hope you that you have had (or will have) a chance to do something similar, too. I believe this weekend is a particularly auspicious time for doing so, because the Spring Equinox is the time when day and night are of equal length, calling forth a sense of balance between light and dark, life and death, creating and resting. So if you haven't done so yet, let this be your invitation to step outside sometime soon! 
          One option I hope you'll consider in the spirit of celebrating the Spring Equinox is joining me and seven of my favorite musical friends at the Cave Without a Name this Saturday night, as we engage in a powerful time of celebration and meditation in the magnificent setting of the Queen's Throne Room, deep within the earth. I can't think of a better time or place for experiencing a Spring Brake!  For tickets and more information, http://www.cavewithoutaname.com/events.php

         But wherever you are, whatever you do, may you and All Beings be blessed by your willingness to experience and express the sense of balance, freshness and aliveness permeating the air at this rich and vital time.

 With joy,       
        Rudi     




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