I was attending a spiritual retreat last week on an island and one exercise we were asked to do was to bring a special stone that had one pointy end. We threw the stone and were to follow the direction of the point when it landed. So off I went.
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go till you come to the end: then stop.” 1
I felt like Alice heading down a rabbit hole. I was led in a direction to a place where everything seemed out of place. A path of moss along a tree… A stone held in the air by an uprooted tree… A broken down cottage roof, a chair with no seat. All out of context… I followed the stone and it kept me circling to this spot. I wrote a poem which I had not done in decades. While short, it flowed through me.
All of a sudden there was this overwhelming message to just “stop” stay still and notice. Notice what was around me. The sounds, the light, the smells.
When I stopped I saw so much more… a moss path, out-of-place discarded scales, a disintegrating metal bucket. And I am reminded that when I slow down and stop my “busyness” how much more I am actually able to see.
Standing still and noticing what’s around … standing in silence and the enjoyment that arises through that connection. This experience reminded me of what we bring to the journey … not only am I am re-committed to sit in the silence to calm my inner “talk” I am also reminded to stop and feel the essence of life around me.
Oh yes, and at the end of the walk, a caterpillar crawled on my camera. Fluorescent turquoise on the side, it reared up turned its head left and right. I picked it up, thanked it and let it go along its way… Glad I had others see the caterpillar…
“I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person”.1
1. Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland
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