seaside

The pull is so strong we will not believe

the drawing tide is meant for us,

I mean the gift, the sea,

the place where all the rivers meet.

Easy to forget,

how the great receiving depth

untamed by what we need

needs only what will flow its way...

But what would that be like

feeling the tide rise

out of the numbness inside

toward the place to which we go

washing over our worries of money,

the illusion of being ahead,

the grief of being behind, our limbs young

rising from such a depth?

David Whyte

After a busy morning, walking to the beach today was a healing salve. Right away, I felt my breath slow and a deepening inner serenity when I found both the ocean and the wind calm. Looking to the north, the ice-y blue sea and sky seemed to blend into one, like a infinite ocean extending into the heavens.

I was first drawn to a driftwood's roots that had grown around two large stones and I thought how interesting the 'vehicles' that will drive us to move from one place to another, often a job opportunity, a relationship, or a calling from a particular place itself. .. And I thought of these two stones who were hugged by the roots of this tree and found themselves on the journey of their lives... who knows where the journey of this log and two stones began? The stones surrendering to their destiny...

And I thought of my own life and the lives of human beings... how beautiful the times are when we feel like something larger than ourselves is 'hugging us' and taking us to unexpected places of beauty and wonder.

“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” Joseph Campbell

For my dance practice, initially I wanted to connect to the stones and the driftwood but soon was drawn to the oceans edge, and the gentle rhythm of the silver blue waves that lulled my being into inner quietude and a deeper connection to inner spaciousness and expansiveness. Grateful for my butoh mentor and for this dance practice that feels like poetry... so nourishing to the soul... Grateful for the beauty of our grand mama earth...

It is time now, I said,

for the deepening and quieting of the spirit

among the flux of happenings...

I went down in the afternoon

to the sea

which held me, until I grew easy.

About tomorrow, who knows anything.

Except that it will be time, again,

For the deepening and quieting of the spirit.

Mary Oliver

Music: Satowa

Filmed by Brooke

Visit my butoh mentor's beautiful blog here: Maureen 'Momo' Freehill