I turned off the car, took one conscious breath, and sat a moment.
Finding a space of peace within as I let my busy mind and active body settle from my morning. Silently, I breathed away those thoughts which competed for my scattered attention. Encouraged by my newfound peace, my eyes focused on what stood before me. A beautiful tree of red situated next to a smaller tree of yellow.
Such beauty in these Fall colors! They had not been present last time I parked my car before them. Or had they? I didn’t know.
So often racing from one space to another. I didn’t notice them yesterday, but these delightful colors were definitely present today.
I breathed in appreciation of the artistry dancing in the breeze before me.
My eyes slowly wandered to the left and took a moment to process the mix of colors around me. A beautiful holly tree with glistening green leaves. So vibrantly alive. These sturdy green leaves reflected the light as if diamonds had taken a pause in flight to wink at me.
I couldn’t help but noticing how generously the natural world shared beauty, diversity, and support.
Woven into the green holly leaves were splashes of red. The branches of the neighboring tree had come to visit, rest, and share in the beautification of this tiny patch of nature. I wondered if the red leaves understood the holly’s desire to adorn herself. Or if it was a beautiful friendship where the holly enjoyed both the brilliant red leaves and the stark naked branches in winter of her neighbor.
I don’t know how long I sat there. Creatively exploring the intent and friendship of the trees before me.
Smiling, I realized that this decorative gift of red was to be repaid in time. Day after day the red leaves would flutter in the breeze, leaving branches of brown unadorned. No longer offering a gift of color to the holly, roles would reverse as the receiver became the giver.
Throughout the winter, the vibrant holly tree would cradle the naked branches and adorn them with leaves of green and diamond lights.
I figured then that the sun and breeze conspired to dance this model of reciprocal giving. So its graceful movement and reflecting light might catch the fancy of a distracted driver who parked before it.
Such a generous lesson before me.
One that had been missed over many, many years of parking in that spot. Funny thing. In the days that followed, I found generous weavings of red, orange, brown, and green everywhere I went. When I was distracted by mindless, unimportant thoughts, dancing forests, alive with color, reminded me to breathe deeply. To open my eyes to the gifts of beauty, generosity, and magical light existing everywhere.
Reminding me to share my beautiful light with others.
To dance in harmony with others across all seasons. With all manner of support. Sometimes giving. Sometimes receiving. Always grateful for this generous exchange. In the Andean Medicine tradition and Peruvian culture, this generous exchange is called Ayni.
Reciprocity or the mutual exchange of energy, care, and love is the way of life for those in many indigenous cultures. Underlying this core principle is the understanding that all things are connected in the Universe.
This energy of giving and receiving is happening all the time across and between the cosmos, Earth, peoples, nature, and all creatures.
When you recognize this interconnectivity within life, your thoughts, words, and deeds align with Ayni. “What I do for you, I also do for me.” You care for the community in relationship with the wide world as this is essential to your wellbeing.
All of life, apart from we humans, practice Ayni. This generous friendship of trees is only one example.
If you’d like to learn more about the beautiful principles guiding the interconnected life of the cosmos and Earth, you can explore any wisdom tradition that holds this value. By whatever name it is called.
I often teach the Art of Becoming classes for women which explore Ayni, Beauty, Wisdom, and Love.
These classes and retreats journeys into the Andean cosmovision, use the Andean Medicine Wheel as a Map, and wise guardians to provide guidance on your life journey.
You may always learn more by visiting these pages: Andean Energy Medicine, Workshops, or Classes and Retreats.
Peace be with you and with all. No exceptions.
Vast forests of aspen are all interconnected by roots and, get this, are one genetic individual. Genetically identical, a forest of aspen is really one organism. Dr. Michael Grant at University of Colorado studied an aspen clone in Utah consisting of a calculated 47,000 tree trunks covering 106 acres. Doing the math, it weighed in at 13 million pounds. Just because we look different than frogs, an iceberg, or Marie living in Ireland doesn’t mean we can’t act as if we’re one big organism. Energetically, we are.
Learn the one essential skill that allows you to face any challenge with confidence, sturdiness, and inner calm.
More than a technique. It’s a game changer.
Life is stressful. Always.
If you pause for a moment, you’ll see there is always something stressful happening. It might be mild, like when you’re running a bit late for an appointment. Or significant, like dealing with a major loss or facing a radical change in your life. If there’s a weather disaster, a country in disarray, or a threat to your livelihood, the stress meter goes way up.
One cool Spring morning, I stepped on the treadmill at the gym looking forward to walking a few miles. Recovering from an injury, I had to walk at a moderate pace so I had brought my copy of What Is Enlightenment? magazine to explore. I always found something to inspire me within this publication focused upon consciousness, culture, and cosmos.
Stress is a natural experience in life. It’s often viewed as a doorway to disruption of wellbeing, peace of mind, and a clear navigational path in a challenging situation.
I’m a bit of a news hound these days. As one who hasn’t watched a newscast in years, I’m surprising myself. Ordinarily, I wait for the news to come to me. And it does. When something is important for me to know or respond to, I hear about it. Kind friends, clients, my husband, or a random stranger share a soundbite which cues me to look into a situation further. I’ve been very comfortable with this level of engagement for years now.
In the midst of our country’s woes, I’ve got Lucinda Williams singing in my head.
“You can’t rule me
you wanna go and tell me what’s good for me
you wanna tell me what I’m payin’ for
Well, the game is fixed, it’s plain to see
I ain’t playin’ no more”
I drove through a hail storm today. It began gently, offering a musical accompaniment to my journey. Intensifying, the hail noisily demanded my attention.
