First, a poem. By Alice Oswald, a poet who listens and plays, listens and plays. Please read it aloud, two times.
A Short Story of Falling
BY ALICE OSWALD
It is the story of the falling rain
to turn into a leaf and fall again
it is the secret of a summer shower
to steal the light and hide it in a flower
and every flower a tiny tributary
that from the ground flows green and momentary
is one of water's wishes and this tale
hangs in a seed-head smaller than my thumbnail
if only I a passerby could pass
as clear as water through a plume of grass
to find the sunlight hidden at the tip
turning to seed a kind of lifting rain drip
then I might know like water how to balance
the weight of hope against the light of patience
water which is so raw so earthy-strong
and lurks in cast-iron tanks and leaks along
drawn under gravity towards my tongue
to cool and fill the pipe-work of this song
which is the story of the falling rain
that rises to the light and falls again
When I read this poem, I notice cycles of being, cycles of growth, cycles of decay. I notice the feeling of a drop of rain in a being… I notice a lifting of energy from the base of my spine to the top of my head. The energy oscillates back and forth across my spine like the switchbacks in a steep mountain climb. At the top of my head, the breath pauses and, then, as the out-breath begins, the thoughts, the tension, the holding of anything lets go and a stream of letting go flows through me and out through my feet.
I practice this letting go all day long. Any emotion arising through me, I notice and let go.
I am practicing an experience of peace. Long ago Pema Chodron’s book When Things Fall Apart helped me to recognize: things fall apart and they come together again.
At first I focused on not freaking out when things fell apart. This was very helpful. I’d remind myself, “Oh, looks like it’s all going to fall apart.” And, then, I’d practice relaxing the body. I’m reminded by the story of victims in a car crash who are relaxed as opposed to clenched and tightened at the moment of impact. The relaxed bodies make it through with less harm.
A Noticing: deepening the practice of relaxing the body in the face of uncertainty or pain expands the capacity for holding more uncertainty. The practice will adjust to the practitioner’s capacity.
More recently, I’ve been focusing on not expecting the form of how things will come together again. This has been fascinating. I have so much expectation! I want to be pain-free! I am closer to pain-free when I have no expectation and allow life to unfold.
A bee, between one and another. Intention: to be here. now.
My Intention Today: To Bee here. Now.