Open Yourself Up to Compassion
The practice of compassion means letting experience in. A Japanese poet, a woman named Izumi who lived in the tenth century, wrote: “Watching the moon at dawn, solitary, mid-sky, I knew myself completely. No part left out.” When we can open to all parts of ourselves and to others in the world, something quite extraordinary happens. We begin to connect with one another.
Joseph Goldstein, from “Heart Touching Heart,” Tricycle, Winter 2007
As the poet, Izumi points out, the practice of compassion can be extended not just towards other people and ourselves, but to all of our Earth Family. When we take the time to do just that, we discover more and more layers of our true selves. We discover just how beautiful we truly are. We discover oneness. We discover we belong to something much bigger. We discover we are part of the Essential We of Life.
The Narratives is a Whole Earth Care posting about people and the places or experiences in the natural world that say, "Yes, you are loved and you are lovely." We all have a special place or remember an experience like that. Let me introduce you to Angela and her narrative of Rondo Beach in Washington State.
"Just outside the window, across the way, the bunnies are looking for breakfast. Multiple varieties of birds are playing their flight games across a sky that is blue instead of the anticipated gray. Traffic, ground and air, moves steadily to destinations of work...or, perhaps early morning play.
Life moves all around me as I visit here in the house of my Washington family. No matter the family chatter, the inter-play of characters, the ebb and flow of emotions, always, in my conscious being I am aware that just down the road awaits a place of my heart.
If I was alone and had some choice about how to pass the time spent here, no minutes would be wasted within the walls of this home, no matter how treasured. Redondo calls to me, every moment that I am here.
It's just a small beach, bound by mostly small, nondescript houses, although the wealth and indulgence of our society is changing that with the growing presence of seaside estates.
Life moves all around me as I visit here in the house of my Washington family. No matter the family chatter, the inter-play of characters, the ebb and flow of emotions, always, in my conscious being I am aware that just down the road awaits a place of my heart.
If I was alone and had some choice about how to pass the time spent here, no minutes would be wasted within the walls of this home, no matter how treasured. Redondo calls to me, every moment that I am here.
It's just a small beach, bound by mostly small, nondescript houses, although the wealth and indulgence of our society is changing that with the growing presence of seaside estates.
But those fortunate people who live in the houses on Redondo Beach Rd... they have the world. Facing the water, the peninsula, the mountains and the setting sun, they have the world, separated only by a pane of glass.
The beauty of the crystalline, turquoise waters of the tropics is not painted into this picture. Instead, the water is grey with cold, veiling the untold stories....of treachery, of life, of the power of nature. It calls to me. It captivates me... like a lover who lights the way and fills my soul... deep, consuming, addictive.
Coming to this place, I am pulled to the ground, attached as I am to no other space. When we are moving away from the beach, I quietly mourn the loss, a growing weight on my heart. When we are driving and nearing the beach, my heart begins to race, as it would if I were meeting a long-lost lover.
At the beach today, I watched as a young family performed their pre-dinner ritual of skipping stones across that gray expanse. How lucky are they? I wonder if they know and appreciate their good fortune and the value of their choice to be at the water instead of at the mall.
Sometimes when I read a great book, one that I love and can identify with for one reason or another, I moderate my reading, sometimes reading only one page at a time, prolonging the inevitable... reaching the end of a wonderful, possibly life-altering experience.
The beauty of the crystalline, turquoise waters of the tropics is not painted into this picture. Instead, the water is grey with cold, veiling the untold stories....of treachery, of life, of the power of nature. It calls to me. It captivates me... like a lover who lights the way and fills my soul... deep, consuming, addictive.
Coming to this place, I am pulled to the ground, attached as I am to no other space. When we are moving away from the beach, I quietly mourn the loss, a growing weight on my heart. When we are driving and nearing the beach, my heart begins to race, as it would if I were meeting a long-lost lover.
At the beach today, I watched as a young family performed their pre-dinner ritual of skipping stones across that gray expanse. How lucky are they? I wonder if they know and appreciate their good fortune and the value of their choice to be at the water instead of at the mall.
Sometimes when I read a great book, one that I love and can identify with for one reason or another, I moderate my reading, sometimes reading only one page at a time, prolonging the inevitable... reaching the end of a wonderful, possibly life-altering experience.
Coming to this place, knowing that the end is near, makes my heart catch. I would like to be able to put the book down to prolong this time and feeling. I wish I could capture it in a picture or a song to carry in my head and my heart until I return... as I know I will. I have come to realize that being in this place is the only thing that I think I have ever really wanted.
We are leaving tomorrow, returning to our home in Ontario... thinking about it hurts my heart."
Angela
Thank you, Angela, for sharing this with us. It’s such a gift. You help the rest of us pause a moment and remember the place or experience where we and the natural world were not strangers.
Would you like to share an experience or a special place with our Whole Earth Care Virtuual Community? Send it along to: moczero@sympatico.ca
Earth Verse
Wide enough to keep you looking
Open enough to keep you moving
Dry enough to keep you honest
Prickly enough to make you tough
Green enough to go on living
Old enough to give you dreams
Gary Snyder
(Mountains and Rivers Without End: Poem)
Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Earth_Verse.html
Wide enough to keep you looking
Open enough to keep you moving
Dry enough to keep you honest
Prickly enough to make you tough
Green enough to go on living
Old enough to give you dreams
Gary Snyder
(Mountains and Rivers Without End: Poem)
Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Earth_Verse.html
Tom wrote, “The new astronomy contribution is beauty--fullllll!
Show this video to THE STAR LADY....I am sure it will inspire her to greater INNER AND OUTER spaces... (This video is quiet wonderful and very exciting... WOW! The wonder of it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVjF_7ensg&feature=player_embedded
Some of you have written to me re: trouble getting onto the Whole Earth Care Blog in the last few weeks. Carole was one. Last week , Carole wrote, “I was using Google Chrome as my explorer in recent months. Yesterday, I restarted using IE, and all your links now work. :)”
Show this video to THE STAR LADY....I am sure it will inspire her to greater INNER AND OUTER spaces... (This video is quiet wonderful and very exciting... WOW! The wonder of it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVjF_7ensg&feature=player_embedded
Some of you have written to me re: trouble getting onto the Whole Earth Care Blog in the last few weeks. Carole was one. Last week , Carole wrote, “I was using Google Chrome as my explorer in recent months. Yesterday, I restarted using IE, and all your links now work. :)”
Hopefully, this might be of some help.
Carole also wrote, “Ev is quite a read!! Thanks for the new tangent.”
Video:
Video:
Have you heard about the Fun Theory? Here's an example. The Musical Stairs
Fran, from Quebec, has sent us her lovely photos of November on Riviere des Prairies. These photos were taken from her backyard. Go to The Rogues' Gallery on the right sidebar to view them.
Thank you, Fran, for sharing these quiet moments at your home with our Virtual Community.
Don't forget to check out the Interactive Sites on the right sidebar of the Whole Earth Care Blog. There's fun to be had and some very good learning.
Earth Family First,
maureen
Photos by Goggle Images, Angela and Fran
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