Living The Still Life

         

        We all start out in the dark. Tiny sea creatures floating in  amniotic fluid inside the warm cave of our mother's womb. Vibrating in time with the rhythm of her beating heart we grow. Nourished through the umbilical cord cells divide, multiply, specialize to become us. A potential human being that contractions force out the vaginal canal to cry with eyes shut tight when first exposed to the bright light of our birth day.  

        No wonder we feel awe upon seeing a new born. For our journey also began after sperm met egg, followed by nine months gestation, during which we sprouted head, arms, legs, then fingers, and toes; all body organs needed for two legged upright being.  And the ability to smile. Love the picture below.

           Now as mature adults we can reflect on our life's journey. Wonder at being at all. To reflect, think, consider the trials, tribulations, joys and sorrows on being embodied. To reflect requires a mysterious potentiality called consciousness. The ability to be aware of ourselves; self-aware and aware of others and wonder about the environment that nourishes and supports us in this thing called "our life." No accident that we call Earth our mother. Many cultures call the Sky father. Considering Yin and Yang, both are required. 

        Ancients claimed, "As above, so below. As below, so above." 

        As human beings we're endowed with the potential to reflect on the beauty and sorrows of life and this world. We explore outer space in hopes of finding other beings like us. Hopefully more advanced. We reflect on creation. How our universe started. How life on earth started. We grieve our sorrows. Knowing that each life must end. Wisdom understands that each ending is a new beginning. We just don't know what that next beginning will be.   

        I interpret that ancient saying to mean that the creative energy that flows through all things, including us does not, can not die, but is eternally changing while unchanging in essence.  This form. This body dies when that energy leaves to travel on to what comes next. Since that energy is holy we too must be powered by the divine. By seeking to connect with the divine we can see beyond our bodily limits. We can recognize the miraculous nature of being at all. Wonder at our ability to be curious about our being and that spectacular energy that embodies us. 

     

   These thoughts come when I'm living the still life. Being in the moment in nature. In the dark listening to the quiet. Sipping coffee with God. 

Living The Still Life! 

 In stillness,

Before neurotic day

Wakens,

Curtains open

For sliding glass 

To frame art,

Even while all

Remains dark;

Over and beyond

Nannyberry Park 

January cold

 Winter snow,

Lightens 

Somber night,

With a dull 

Reflected glow;

Red lights,

 In sky, 

Wink

Where smokestacks rise,

The answer… 

Why,

My torso sports

Only a tee shirt,

 Inside;

As regular as

This embodiment

Breathes,

The furnace cycles,

On and off,

On and off;

Maple limb

Silhouettes

Branch unmoved,

Risen trunk 

And roots,

Hidden

From view;

I raise

 Caffeine nectar

To lips,

An offering 

Shared,

With One,

Who originates,

Permeates,

All there Is,

In time;

        We grow more conscious of our spiritual roots when prompted by others. Bless you all my friends for sharing part of your life's journey with me. May peace and serenity be yours even in the midst of sorrows and loss. 

        About the video: It starts in the dark as I look out the slider and read Living The Still Life. The scene quickly shifts to the conservancy. The only sounds then are those naturally occurring. A footstep in snow; the sound of flowing water where water springs from beneath a boulder; listen for the train whistle and the Kingfisher that abides there in winter. Listen to the flock of chickadees as I try to catch their movements in the tangle of pines. Consider this walk with me a meditation. View the incredible reflection of the clouds laced with blue openings in the water. "As above so below." 

 Anthony G. Hendricks, author, poet, nature lover -- naturally;  Buddha Blues, just published with a great cover created by his Sister Judith; available at Amazon as print on demand or as an e book at Amazon or Kobo. With formatting help on cover and interior by Woven Red. Other books The Wasteland Revisited, a book length poem about the dystopia causing global warming; available as an e book at Amazon; A Journey In The Human Dilemma, collected poetry and prose; trade paper back.