Holding My Breath (Again) – Day 511

Image (Facebook) – Credit Unkown

Holding My Breath (Again)

As I sit here trying to think of something to write this evening, I keep dismissing each idea that pops into my head.  Nope. Not that. Nope. Not that, either. I annoy myself as I nix each thought. Until I realize: I’m holding my breath.

Literally and figuratively.

So I write that as the working title to my post and I realize with the force of a whack upside the head that this awful freaking virus is all about our breath. It’s all about breath and breathing. Or not being able to take one or enjoy doing it anymore.

I make a point to take a deep breath – if only to notice it, relish it, be grateful for it.

Momentous Week

Why am I holding my breath? Because I, too, feel this week will bring shock and sadness to so many of us. To any and all of us who are paying attention.

And it will only be the beginning.

We thought we were witnessing the beginning recently? No. We weren’t. We were just watching the opening credits.

Now is when the rough stuff really starts unfolding, when the images we see playing out before us slam into the vision of reality that we insist on pretending we see. This is when we find out whether the center can hold – on whether our centers can hold. This is when we are faced with the consequences of our choices and the choices of others.

We’re In This Together

Because, yet again, we’re in this together. The dire predictions for New York City are probably going to start manifesting this week. But the real shock is going to come when it happens elsewhere.

Everyone expects NYC to get slammed. Many who are intimidated by the intensity and startling diversity of NYC look at NYC in smug judgment. But what about other cities that are not quite as diverse? Rural areas? Our small towns and villages where people think they’re immune to the consequences of policies enacted in Washington D. C.? Something tells me they’re in for a terrible surprise.

So…yeah. I’m holding my breath. I don’t want the dire predictions to play out. And I wish we didn’t have to live through such cataclysm in order to force us to change our ways.

But as long as we insist on thinking we’re special or it won’t happen to us we perpetuate the spread of this misery.

There is a solution. There is a lesson. It’s the realization on the most profound of levels (from the seemingly insignificant to the obviously momentous) that we’re really and truly all connected. We are all related. And we need to start acting like it, from the ground up. I’m holding my breath (again) – for all of us.

Mitakuye Oyasin.

Creek along Red Hill – Photo: L. Weikel

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Wintry Mix – Day 433

Icicles Near the Tohickon – Photo: L. Weikel

Wintry Mix

Finally, some evidence of winter’s presence arrived in our lives today. Some good old-fashioned wintry mix and freezing temperatures served as a delightful reminder that we are, in fact, just past the middle of January.

Given my druthers, I’d welcome with even more enthusiasm a good dump of the white stuff, maybe 18” or so. You know – enough to easily justify hunkering down with a warm beverage, a captivating book, and oh, who knows? Maybe some guac, salsa, and chips?

Frozen Moment

Earlier this afternoon, I was on my way home, just about an hour or two after the snowflakes started flying. Of course, I was compelled to stop by the Tohickon to say hello and pay my respects.

It feels as though I’ve barely had a moment to savor the delights of my favorite place ‘to be’ in the world. Certainly not since the start of the year; and quite frankly, more accurately, not since the beginning of the fall. There’s been a lot of ‘busy, busy, busy,’ and not nearly enough ‘stop, take a breath, reflect, and allow’ taking place.

Cabin Run – Photo: L. Weikel

More Tomorrow?

Not necessarily more snow, freezing rain, ice, or even slush tomorrow. No. I mean that gift that we either indulged in receiving and relishing today or we didn’t. The gift of finding it wiser to stay home and hunker down rather than run around making busy work for ourselves.

Speaking of more tomorrow, I took the initiative and made a stew today. Spiced just right with lots of Cholula Sauce* and topped with mouth-watering cheese-infused biscuits, not only was this the perfect warm meal for a wintry mix day, but there’s also plenty to spare for tomorrow.

Perhaps leaving a little more time for that yearned-for stopping, breathing, reflection, and allowing?

Here’s hoping you, too, take some time to embrace the gifts January’s wintry mixes afford us. My sense is that we are wise to feed our bodies and souls now, for the wild ride is only just getting started.

Wintry Mix Stew – Photo: L. Weikel

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