WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
Tag: Wildly Free Elder
The Wisdom of Not Knowing
“:Driving home from a temporary job yesterday I was weary and looked forward to arriving home to a friends home where I was house sitting for the week. Then it happened all in an instant.
A brilliant rainbow presented in the sky over the Blue Ridge mountain range entwined with buckets of rain pouring down scattered here and there making driving a bit treacherous. I so wanted….”
The Door Is Wide Open – But Don’t Let The Old Man In
“Facing the fact of our own mortality is something we fall into intimacy with as we enter the elder years of our embodied life.
What is dignified aging? ….”
Letting Go of the End of the Rope
“We were standing in a circle all blindfolded. This was the beginning exercise of the ropes course that some of my “sole proprietor” business women friends and I had signed up for when I lived in Sonoma County, in Northern California.
If you have never done a ropes course it is quite an adventure and a test of courage, balance, trust, discovery, team support…..and willingness to let go and try something that you may never have done before (and may not ever do again!).
Granted this was decades ago I did this, but my body still remembers the experience. More about the standing in the circle blind folded in a moment…..”
Grounding Anchors In A Crazy World
“I find it is not easy these days to find a space of well being, calm and peace inside amidst all that is going on in our human created world. Even to find solitude that is not cluttered with stimulus. We each have unique ways and practices to center, increase resilience and stay grounded amidst intense change and uncertain times. Most can be simple, sustainable…… and elemental. Just a moment ago I was standing on the earth barefoot and closed my eyes…..”
Breathing Connection
“When we consider that the cosmos is doing our breathing for us it reflects an unlimited potential for freedom. The deep interconnection with everything around and beyond us feeds and nourishes our individual and interconnected lives at a level so vast that it is rather mind boggling to me. Imagine that when you are asleep (and awake!) there is…..”
Attention Is The Beginning of Devotion
“If asked what my first thoughts are as I awake each morning this is what I say. Gratitude for waking up and feeling the breath fill my body, and in the Spring how much I love the sweet sound of birdsong outside my bedroom window. After preparing green jasmine tea my writing notebook finds its place on my lap with fountain pen poised as I gaze out at the River Birch outside my bedroom window. The question posed each and every morning is “where will I place my attention today?”….
Improv Humor
“How does one tap into improvisational humor?
I would say that life is full of opportunities every single day in the cracks and crevices of interaction. Even if you are alone. Simply trusting what is arising within the moment and not holding back is a key. However, one underlying characteristic you must possess is that you don’t mind at all being silly, “out of step”, different from the mainstream around you, and most probably looked at by others in the vicinity. …”
Just Be It
“They were walking slowly with poles in hand, the husband watching that his wife negotiated the hill before her. Seeing their slow and somewhat shaky pace on a very narrow trail I cut across the grassy slope, which was much steeper, so that I could be ahead of them and went on my way leaving them behind.
A bit later they were heading towards me on the trail and I was able to see more clearly the shirt that the woman wore which said in big bold letters “JUST DO IT!”…..
Love With Your Whole Body
“The vibrant energy of the pink blossoms continue to stop me in my tracks every time I come or go from my small home sanctuary. For this magnificent cherry tree in the image above is right outside the front door to my house.
This morning those 100’s of blossoms made me stop for more intimate moments of connection. To simply fall in love with the beauty of this light filled Spring day and my place in it….”
Living In Time That Simply Is
“In these moments it was as if everything not immediately in the small perimeter of where I sat faded away. The only “time” that existed was now and nothing else mattered. It was like those moments when you find yourself gazing into the face of a beloved. If I was to measure it in human time it was probably only 10 minutes or so, but it felt timeless.
A spaciousness of breath and presence in which I was embraced.”