Quote:
“You see things as you are, not as they are”. Anthony de Mello
The Action:
I pushed the last kayak from the beach with a feeling of satisfaction and contentment. I was now alone. Only for moments and I bit deeply into the emptiness of the moment. The sound of the surge, the rocks whispering the caress of the sea, the fog draped over the beach and the islands.
I turned to walk to my kayak and at that moment a large raven landed on the beach about twenty feet away from where I was. He had been close all morning with his partner. Silent and aware. His partner more shy, elusive and not so bold to be on the beach. Still, embraced by the boughs of the trees.
He was beautiful. Shiny and iridescent black. Liquid eyes with intelligence, depth of soul expressed by a majesty of presence. The pair had been flying the beach all morning waiting for us to go to see what treasure we had left behind to explore and perhaps eat.
As the raven walked along the sand like a rolling sailor on a ship at sea, I looked at him. As I looked at him, I spoke his name. I told him how beautiful, intelligent and wise he was. I thanked him for sharing his beach with us these past few days. As I spoke these words, I felt them leave my lips though I did not feel them connect to my soul. I knew they were the words that I wanted to say but somehow, I could not form the connection with my heart. I was tired.
My lips continued to open, and the words continued to fall out. The raven continued on his walk in the sand above me. The raven had heard these words before. He tolerated other people’s presence on his beach before. He was removed, distant, we had no connection. There was no association of acknowledge with the noisy and intrusive biped – human.
The words from my lips started to wither and eventually I fell silent. And as I fell silent, I sensed a change in the energy of the raven. I was now noticed. I was now a presence. An energy and a being, as to being the former nuisance and irritation.
I held my hand towards the raven palm facing the pacing bird and I felt a rush of intense energy captured in my hand from the bird. The raven was no longer walking around me, he was now walking through me.
He paused slowly angled toward me with an eye holding my soul with its wisdom. He started to walk a half circle only feet away from me. And as his pacing got closer to me, he started to talk to me. Glock uttered every few steps with a bobbing of his head to reinforce the significance of the message.
I could feel his energy, his dignity, presence and magic like a liquid of illumination washing over me with warmth, intelligence and love. I felt a blending of our spirits and our lives as he circled me in the sand. A connection. A dance and an intimacy of species.
The melody continued for perhaps half a minute, a few steps, Glock, a nodding of the body as I held my hand towards him in reverence, respect and honour to his essence. The circle was now complete. The raven stopped speaking. The moment opened itself up again to the moment, as compared to the timeless.
The sound of the sea, the light breeze from the west and the dampness of the fog on my face, memory. The raven left the beach. So, did I.
The Book:
The book this week is you, your life and your dreams or dream. It is a new year, and it is time for change, and action. To achieve the dreams that until now have been simmering on the back burner. Now is the time to bring them to the front burner, and to turn the heat on high. Time to live breath and eat with big bites those dreams that you have. 2021 is the year to make those dreams a reality for yourself and those that are a part of those dreams.
Take the two minutes that you now have. Close your eyes and bring that dream that you have slowly back into focus. Roll it over in your mind until you can once again feel the familiarity for that dream that you once had. Bring it back into focus and into your consciousness. Bring it back to the point where you can taste the aliveness that the thought creates in your soul to be, live and act on this dream.
Take one step right now in the direction of that dream.