Keeping Pace

The coolness of the air and blue skies creates a moment of reflection on how layers of experiences are possible.  The rain, the wind, the momentary clearing allows for a walk along the ocean, a hike up into the hidden stairways of Los Angeles, and the ability to see the fullness of the moon at night.  It is the heavens, sending a reminder that the one constant in life is change and the rhythm of change seems to be increasing.  The temperature this day is in the upper 40's fahrenheit and the energy is calm.

There are times when it seems too much is happening, too quickly, with too few chances to take it all in.  Then, one realizes that many things are in fact, beyond control.  The fact of conflicts in the world, the fact of tragedies visited upon those who are doing their best to bring care and compassion into the lives of others, the fact of time passing and seemingly at a faster rate than ever before.  

Once there is the realization that much is out of one's control, there is a chance to experience what it means to simply "be.".  Most don't take up the opportunity; instead, there is a constant effort to keep up with the pace of all that is happening, without realizing that part of keeping up is finding ways to pause.

Pausing is what gives meaning to, and appreciation for the rest of it.  As in music - there have to be places where there is a "rest" -  the silence that can be very brief or extended. The drama and feeling of the melody as a whole happens as much in the distance between the notes as in the notes themselves.  It is often in the placement of the resting moments that the magic of the tune arises.  

It can be tricky to know where and how to place the rest.  The composer's skillfulness is in understanding where to place rests in a piece.  For human beings, the knowing as to when and how to stop and open a way for silence and being can be tricky.  Yet, without this there can be no replenishing of the energy and clarity to continue with what life has in store for each of us.

As one friend put it, "I now realize that that life is just a series of problem/solution, problem/solution, problem/solution."  How to move through life's challenges to the very end is the question.  And the very end is the same for all of us - there is a full stop.

Getting there, one can meet all the work demands, responsibilities to family and friends, obligations to community.  Infused throughout, hopefully one is honoring self by resting along the way.  Without indulgence and the temptation to stay in resting mode for too long, but just long enough to know when to go back to the rhythm of life, there can be enormous renewal of body and soul. The pace stays steady or maybe even increases, and it takes skillful means to know when to snatch the moments of rest to give it all real meaning.