“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water. Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong."
Lao Tzu
A few weeks ago I spent several days care-taking my elderly father during which time the weather was chilly and filled with hours of endless heavy rainfall. As we were also approaching the winter solstice, the short hours of daylight also felt as though they were reflecting the heaviness of my spirit...
After driving through torrential rain on the way home, there was a break in the clouds while I was passing through the verdant Skagit Valley. The surrounding clouds were dark, heavy and pregnant with rain but it was sprinkling only lightly. I felt it was ironic that although I was planning to do a dance exploration of water as it was so abundant lately (Momobutoh Company has been working with dancing with the elements this past month), I chose to dance a spontaneous dance under a trestle bridge, out of the rain and the direct connection with water where I could set up the camera...
The support structure of the bridge overhead not only provided shelter from the storm but also seemed to reflect my inner feeling tone, of the need to be 'strong' to handle the challenges of caring for an elderly parent...
I was reminded through this dance of the importance of having a solid frame, but more importantly, connecting to a fluid inner-core... Feeling grateful for water... feeling grateful for a dance practice that enables an exploration of both the inner and outer landscapes... the strong and the soft, the light, the dark, the light, the heaviness...
Thank you for viewing this blog - I hope it may inspire you in some way to dance your own soul-full dance...
Music: Satowa
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