John’s Sunday Blog

All Around You

A little secret that nobody wants to admit: nobody knows what’s really going on. Does one have to be serious in their acts of being the person they are to get things changed or done? The problem here may be related to how our culture views not being serious as irresponsible or frivolous. It’s as if one needs to prove oneself by dreading, worrying, and pushing to succeed.

That’s when we look to nature again to understand the best way to live. Do the migrating birds have a look of desperation in their eyes to arrive at their destination or starve? Does a wave try to turn away from crashing on the shore? And all the colors of flowers, butterflies, berries, leaves and soils? All are labeled by us as utilitarian and purposeful, this is for mating, protection or survival etc.. Could this universe exist not for a purpose, but for play? We project a purpose onto all this amazing movement, which is more like a dance or a song than an itinerary with a deadline. And a dance or a song? Do you dance to end at a certain point on the floor, or sing to get to the last note? No. The dancing or singing is the purpose in itself.

Notice the play of the world going on through you. Your nerves, veins, arteries and lungs, curiously, have the same patterns as roots, trees, and rivers. Your breath is a tree’s food and it’s breath is yours. The saline in the mightiest wave is comparable to the saline in your blood. Just as a calm, black, mirrored lake at night reflects the stars, so too, do the pupils of your eyes. Somewhere deep inside we know we are the culmination of everything. It’s all around us and within, whirling and swirling. Consider this whole show as an invitation to dance, to play, and loosen our mental grip on what we think we know.