The Wu Wei of Dancing Leaves

Yesterday’s rain shook leaves from trees.  Today I watched the wind whip through the fallen leaves picking them up and depositing them in seeming haphazard ways.  Different shades, different shapes, different species all formed a community of leaves.  How like the leaves we are.  Some of us sit in the solitary for moments only to be drawn into a group.  At times, we might feel wind blown as we surprisingly connect with others.

The leaves dancing remind me of the invitation to move in the flow of life.  The leaves remind me of the practice of Wu Wei.  Perhaps today I will be here, tomorrow over there, and remain in the same spot on the third day.  Wu Wei asks me to be in the flow of my life — to move in the breeze created by the breath behind the breath.  And, to trust that each moment no matter how calm or chaotic it may seems offers opportunities to be authentic.

Within this wafting on the breath behind the breath, there are opportunities to give into complacency.  Through the practice of a³, we are awake, alert, and alive.  Living by a³, we live in awareness of our ability to ride on the gentle breeze and be buffeted by gale force winds relatively unscathed.

Like those leaves, when we embrace Wu Wei, we are aerodynamic.  And, while the wind may be strong, we ride the thermals, take in the sites, and know that eventually we will land exactly where we need to be.  Cloaking our self in our aerodynamic spirit ensures that we are both aware of and enjoy the extraordinary nature of the place and the people until we find our self dancing in the air onto the next adventure.

That community of leaves on my patio invite me to remember that when I practice Wu Wei, I am more likely to move with the experience and enjoy the extraordinary instead of being stuck in the drudgery of the mundane.

May you dance with the leaves and rest wherever you find yourself in community.

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

I see you.  Three words…seven letters have the energy to radically transform life.  We don’t even have to utter the words; we only have to act upon them.

At times, we may walk through life blissfully unaware of the people around us.  Co-workers, friends, family, strangers all pass in a blur.  At other times, we may avoid eye contact, contort our bodies to avoid touch, or mumble meaningless words instead of responding.  We may find our self moving throughout the day not connecting as we just try to push through.

When we are seen or someone really sees us, everything is altered.  Perhaps the words or actions of another snap us back into the moment.  We may find ourselves engaging in full body listening by using all of our senses.  We peer past the mundane and see the glint of the extraordinary echoing off the ordinary.

Within this echo of the extraordinary, others become real.  No longer the stranger, s/he becomes a member of our community.  It is no longer possible to ignore the other for we have invested even a moment of our time, our love, and our compassion in the other.  The other matters.

“I see you” forges the links of connection.  It raises the other out of the anonymous haze of the ordinary.  When you or the other is seen, the spark at your core touches the spark of the other’s core. Compassionate connection is ignited. Both are energized with this connection of knowing.

“I see you,” reminds us that we do not exist in independent isolation.  We, in these moments of awareness, realize that we are connected in loving, generous interdependence.

I see you…three words, seven letters propel us down the path of compassionate presence and compassionate connection leading us into a radical transformation in which each person matters.

Seeing you because you matter

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

Rain: From the One to the Community

It is raining. I watch as each drop hits the puddle and then shimmers on the water's surface. As a drop lands upon the ground, it is greedily absorbed in to the parched soil. Each drop erodes, dissolves, and blends the parts of the world together into a whole. Rain brings the joy-filled dance of the one into the celebration of community.

Rain joyfully invites me into a damp dance as it washes away my regrets and angst of the past. The pitter-patter of the drops calls me into the moment; and, in this space of here and now, my awareness is in the present. Rain's touch will not let me slip into the past or the future. Worries, hopes, and dreams for the future remain swirling in the place of morrow. I am happily and joyfully free in this dance with the drops and mist of Rain.

Every thing about Rain calls me into the moment. I am more attentive behind the wheel of my car, my steps are more measured, my thoughts are focused…I am present because the landscape of my life has changed. And, in this place of awareness, I see the extraordinary in the drops radiating out, the flowers turning to the sky, the community of umbrellas, and the squirrels and birds hidden just out of reach of the rain.

Rain reminds me of the welcoming inevitability of community. It offers us a commonality for we cannot outrun the drops.  We are all touch by it.  Rain is the invitation of reminder.  We live in community.  As a member of community, how does Rain invite you in the joy-filled dance of connection?

Dancing and Singing in the Rain!  Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com