Saturday, February 1, 2014

Slow Dance and a Welcome to Spring

Things get out of sync for me in the winter months.   This is especially true when we have a harsh winter such as we have had this year.   Suddenly, without warning, we find ourselves thrown in to the middle of weeks of furious winter storms.   Buried in snow we are house bound and things begin to break down; we run out of food, the water pipes freeze and we have little time for normal activities that bring us pleasure because we are too busy surviving.   We lose patience and curse the weather and all that it brings with it.

What if we were to surrender?     What if we were to have a ‘slow dance’ with winter?   What if we take time to truly engage in the experience?    I suggest we approach winter like one would approach a waltz.   First become aware of the rhythm.   Then move in to it with grace. 

The Waltz beat gets its name from a dance, based on three steps and a three-count measure.  According to Webster, the term originated from Old High German ‘walzan’, meaning to turn or roll.   Paying attention to this three-count measure we adjust to winter by following the beat. 

Beat One:  Have an awareness of the grandeur of winter: the beautiful way the wind sculpts the snow; the gentle manner in which the snow falls to the ground; the way your skin tingles when you walk outside in the blustery wind.

Beat Two:  Become mindful of your frustrations and impatience and how they place you ‘out of step’ with your true nature.

Beat Three:   Step in to the dance and be patient knowing that Spring is on the way


A Welcome to Spring

Greening finger caress earth’s blackened thighs
And slowly trace the contours of a thousand seasons.
Warming to a touch, tender with experience
Earth submits again, and once again.
Spring’s seed spills in to summer
And a honey wind blows the joy of silver Birch leaves
To a waking Thrush on a Sunday morning. 

2 comments:

  1. It is interesting to watch what we do, our reactive selves, isn't it? This winter for whatever reason, I've been happy to hibernate, sleep late, indulge in reading and do lots of meditation. I feel as if I've been moving as slow as a slug, like somehow I am called to this to discover something.
    Granted, it's much warmer here and we are not housebound so there is a feeling of choice. But somehow it feels like the deep call of winter which is what I think you are talking about. We have forgotten how to live in harmony with the seasons and think we should have eternal summer, think we should always be happy.
    But wishing you a thaw and some relief as I know how brutal winter can feel. I grew up in Winnipeg!

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  2. Thank you for your visit and comment Carole. Winter has certainly been a transformative time for me....a time of reflection and refocusing. It has taken me some time to 'settle in to it' but now that I have done so....it feels good.
    '

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