It is almost mid-winter. The daylight hours are short and I find myself tucked up in bed earlier than usual weaving baskets or hand-stitching hectic patchworks from fabric scraps. I always find myself a winter craft - something that requires dexterity but little thought. I love drifting into the process and letting my mind wander to the far off realms of the psyche. Lately I have been thinking a lot about the nature of life and peace and the journeys that our existence requires of us. Sometimes I think there is nothing more depressing than stagnation, but then I think that squirrelling around looking for the next best thing is equally as sad. There is that middle road again - life keeps telling me that peace is always within my reach - in routine, in domesticity, in walks through the forest, in saltwater swims. Peace is inside these golden moments. In the words of my beloved teacher Ram Dass, 'Be here now.' Simple, right? Cue great cosmic laughter!
I have been practicing yoga, incorporating it into my routine, disciplining myself into an everyday practice. There are road bumps and roundabouts but this commitment to something that brings alignment to my body and my mind has been of great benefit. As my body strengthens so too does my courage, my peace of mind, my kindness, my openness. Perhaps of greatest benefit is a feeling of worthiness, a sense of liking myself, of treating myself with kindness, love and compassion and recognising that it is all just fine. So many of us treat ourselves so harshly and I for one am exhausted and kind of bored by it! Hah! Time to try something new.
So, there is that, which of course spills over into my creative practice, and in ways that are not as simple as I might like. Transition is often awkward and I feel like I've been shifting into another creative space for over a year now. I'm still feeling my way around in the darkness, waiting to settle into the kind of routine and passioned making I had three years ago. I can see that all the searching only confuses me more and I am trying to let go of expectations. This will lead somewhere in time - maybe somewhere completely unexpected! In the meantime I am trying to learn to be ok with uncertainty, and truly, isn't this what we all are doing every day of our lives? Isn't that life itself - one big journey of being ok with the uncertainty that presents itself to us all.
Hrmm, so, now that we've just touched on the biggest question of them all I'm going to go and focus on putting some ink to paper. Much love to you terrestrial, peace-loving, wonder-filled friends.