Some thoughts as I increase my vitamin D this morning. Lol.
This is the time of year in the northern hemisphere that the rhythm of nature reflects to us the value of pause, as the plants and trees turn their energies inward, preparing for winter’s rest. Other animals will follow suit in entering some form of slowing down, hibernation. Yet, culturally, in the states, this is also the time of year people start ramping up a drive and force to “keep up,” particularly with the hustle and bustle and tasks of the holidays, to meet an increased demand of expectations—which causes me to reflect, how much of these are artificial expectations? Maybe at one time, they served an authentic purpose of connection, but as time moves forward, repetition, tradition can start to lose meaning as we move more like machines through the motions—even after we may have outgrown the original purpose. This is what people are meant to do, what nature does: evolve through spirals of rhythms. … Can we get back down to the root of what authentic connection would look and, really, feel like? Connection to oneself, and thus to others? I wonder what expectations might drop away as no longer necessary, when we pause and feel mindfully into our own human experience and rhythmic nature, rather than keep striving and muscling through well-worn grooves set before us. Nature ebbs and flows, and we humans are made of nature, we also have rhythms of activation and rest and digest—in a culture that drives disconnect from one’s felt experience, to keep muscling and driving and striving through life, surviving and persisting through being “on” as a definition of “success” without tuning into natural rhythm, we actually miss what we are made for in our roots, our bodies—the authentic connection that meets the needs of heart, mind, and spirit, that deepens our sense of well-being that makes life feel full and satisfying. So I note we are in Fall again, noticing nature’s cues, and as the general population out there in a world that has settled upon nature rather than remember to dwell with it, ramps up an artificial drive, I tune more to my embodied awareness—to keep developing and deepening re-connection there—and realize the value of pause, rest, rhythm to inform what is truly present to more deeply meet the needs of the moment, with self and others. That is a great place to keep coming to in a journey that moves increasingly towards well-being. It might feel like going against the grain, to even go against one’s own programming and conditioning, and that’s why it will be an act of sacred rebellion. The Art of BEing Human connects us to the part of us that already naturally knows how to connect to wholeness, heart and spirit.