In Process
The morning light was beautiful, a set of clouds blanketed the sky lightly and the feeling of calm prevailed. Again, the temperature sat in the range it has been all weekend at this hour 65 degrees, fahrenheit. Today is Monday.
The richness of having a chance to be in life fully cannot be expressed with words - the people, the places, the vibration of the scenes that come with seeing friends, walking among strangers in the park where a festival is happening, and the chance to share meals with others. It has to be experienced, cannot really be described.
The experience for the past week has been both hopeful and disappointing. The hopefulness came from being around a child who lived in with us for five days and shared what it is to be in formation as a person. The questions, the constant inquiry and answer wrapped in one..."Did you know..." (fill in the blank with everything from how the planets are aligned to the number of grains of sand fit into a cup - something like that.). Fascinating to be around someone who is emerging into our world, soon to be running the show. When asked, "What would you envision for yourself in the future?", the answer, "I'd like to be lazy and read books all day long." The disappointment emerged and then evaporated.
Wait! This is why he was with us. To get him out of the head space and into the heart and hands - and he has great potential. A week of learning to use the body, meditate, learn a bit of Mandarin and artistic expression. Despite the words, the little human being showed great sensitivity when brought through a movie about the Monkey King. And the understanding was unusually deep for the years he has lived so far. Then, watching another story about Princess Manonoke - deep quiet and stillness followed. Miyazake has a way of hitting home with story. The boy got the meaning, then snapped back to his reality of now. We all start with now. That's why practice, training, practice is constant.
Luck strikes when one is fortunate enough to encounter the being before the fullness of living in this world comes calling. Most of us rely on the adults who are presumed to have enough compassion, wisdom, caring to nurture young lives who enter the world. Many do not have such adults around and yet, there are remarkable beings who come forth in their own adult lives. Destiny awaits - no matter whether one is fortunate enough to meet theirs, or not.
In this time, the thing that is most precious is the encounter. IHere, the strongest reminder comes through: We are all the kid, still in the process, always in the process of finding the way to our best being in the time that we have.