Environment

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There are few things we would like to control more than our environment.
We make our houses our homes; making them our own such that we can be truly comfortable and secure inside. Then we go through considerably trouble getting the colors, the lighting and the temperature ‘just so’.
And in all fairness, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. After all it is about our homes!

By the same token we landscape our gardens and parks. Even a lot of forest areas are the way they are because of human intervention of some kind. We build our roads to suit the traffic; make them wider when needed. We dedicate areas to grow our food.
And as long as we stay on top of things we can totally and successfully manage our environment.

Granted, we will need to come up with chemicals that will specifically kill nature’s input into our controlled environment, the ‘weeds’. We need to choose our crops such that they will thrive in the environment we have created for them ~ and then make sure that they won’t be eaten by insects. But for that we have more chemicals. And even genetic engineering.

Yet how far can we control our environment exactly?

We may be able to control ‘weeds’ and ‘pests’, yet we cannot control the weather into any kind of predictability ~ even though we may try. Climate changes seem well beyond our control...

And history has shown that as soon as we give up shaping our environment, nature takes over pretty quickly. No matter how much black top and concrete were there ~ give it a couple of years and trees will have found a way to grow through it all.

At the end of the day ~ for me at least ~ the question comes up:
Why do we want to control so much of our environment? Why do we want nature to bend to our will?
Wouldn’t it be easier to work with nature; with our natural environment? To allow ourselves to be fed and nurtured by the earth?

The entire attitude that says that we need to control our environment seems to assume that we need to make things happen. That the Earth in itself has neither a plan, nor a consciousness that will take care of its and our survival...

And then again ~ what if the Earth does have a consciousness and a benevolent plan that would allow us to walk its surface, to be fed and clothed and comfortable?
Would that mean that our need to control things might do irreparable damage to our environment?
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What to release?

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Recently I have come to the conclusion that I am carrying too much along with me on my personal path through life. It is becoming clear that it is time to start releasing at least some of it. The real question is, what to release?

My house is small, and looking around there is plenty of ‘stuff’ in it.
On the other hand, if I would set aside all things I need for my business ~ what remains is not that bad. As it turns out, most of it I really enjoy! So when it comes to releasing things, that doesn’t seem to be it.

Like most people I do have an attitude or two that I could probably do without; or even that if I would release them would start making life easier. Seems like that is a good start.

And then there are habits that have long since served their purpose... Like rethinking what already has happened ~ once upon a time a method to learn from made mistakes ~ or over-thinking what hasn’t happened yet ~ which long time ago seemed a good way to plan for all contingencies.
It is surprising how much energy these take. And on top of that, getting wrapped up in rethinking and/or over-thinking will totally prevent living at this moment. Enjoying this very moment. Leaving no time to smell the roses.
Most definitely something I can do without at this point in my life ~ I am so ready to release these!

As I am pondering the question, I realize there is (at least) one more thing that has been part of my luggage for a long time ~ that is not adding anything to the quality of my life. Never has; unlikely it ever will... It is a certain frustration I feel about the words and actions of others. Not just any others, but family and friends.
The type of situation seems to make things harder for me. Sometimes because I have to do ‘double duty’. Other times because the very best I can do is met with a lack of respect and appreciation.
Yet whichever way you look at it, I have no influence over the actions, the behavior of others.
The thing is, it is not the extra work I am facing that makes this a weighty burden ~ it is my sense of frustration about something I cannot change: the behavior the other person is choosing.

It is this very specific frustration ~ that will only take away from who I am ~ that I want to release most of all.
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Movement of change

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Every move we make, every step we take brings change into our lives.
Even if it is just minor changes because we as a person move on from one thing in order to embark on something new. A new hobby, a new activity, a new job. All things that come naturally as we move through life. All movements that we desire and hope for. And even though we understand that things will change as a result of our taking on new things ~ we may feel that we ourselves don’t have to change at all. We are the constant. We are in control.

Looking at it from this perspective seems a little backward.
After all, we like to move; we like to start new things; we take steps on our personal paths such that we can grow and evolve. And with every step we take, we change. We renew ourselves. Change ourselves.
It is from this inner changes that the desire to do new things is born.
And as we start doing these new things, we gain new experiences. Which allow us to move forward on our personal paths.
Changing us, often without us even noticing ourselves.

And as we hardly notice the tiny changes that take place every day in ourselves, we feel we are in control.

The thing is that the moment we get to a point where we feel we need to change ~ whether it is to adapt to changing circumstances, life styles, eating patterns, or whatever ~ we have a tendency to resist. Suddenly we feel quite apprehensive about moving forward as it will require us to change. In a sense, we feel that ~ as these changes are ‘forced upon us’ we are losing control.
And while we may stay in limbo for a while ~ eventually we either back off, or we go for it. Either way we move; and as we move, we change.

From this perspective it seems that changes are not as much something that we need to take overate action to bring them into our lives. Changes happen as a direct result of movement ~ be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual movement.
As such, all we need to do is to permitting movement to occur in our lives. And as we do, changes happen in a gentle manner. Allowing the pieces to come together; often forming a picture more beautiful than we could ever have imagined...

While we move, doing the things we want to do ~ even if they are just chores ~ we change. As we change we gain new perspectives; start new movements.
It is an ever evolving spiral on our personal paths.
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Movement

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Every day of our lives we move.
Whether it is running errants, moving to or from a job site, or just moving around the house doing chores ~ there is a certain movement going on in our lives. And even those with a more sedate life style may eventually get up for a cup of coffee or a bite to eat...

Apart from this very obvious, day to day movement, there is also the more purposeful movement driven by the desire to ‘go places and do things’. And again, whether that is in a career environment, from a personal perspective that says ‘the top ten things I want to experience this year are...’, or things you want to do in your leisure time ~ each of them has a certain movement associated with it.

And then there are also kinds of movement that are perhaps not quite are apparent ~ like mental movement; the movement we go through when we experience or discover things we didn’t know about before. Or the emotional movement we go through when we start feeling differently about a situation or a person...

All these kinds of movement are fairly common in our lives, and in reality we often don’t even give them a second thought. They are normal movements that occur. We might even be more surprised if any one of these movements stopped happening in our lives because we get in some kind of situation that hampers our movement. Even if that is just having to stay home because that important package is being delivered today...

Yet all movement brings change into our lives; oftentimes in ways we never anticipated.

For instance the job offer we may get simply because we were at the right place at the right time. It wouldn’t have happened hadn’t we been ‘on the move’ in the first place. And that ‘chance meeting’ may well bring major changes into our lives.

With every experience we have in our lives ~ with every step we take on our personal paths ~ we move forward. And we change. Leaving the old perspectives behind as new understanding is attained. Setting new goals. Doing new things.

The interesting thing about it is that al of this we see as nothing out of the ordinary. Moving ahead is normal. Doing different things at different times on our lives is common.
And yet, as soon as we look at these things from a perspective of change rather than movement ~ we start resisting them big time!
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Magic is everywhere

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Magic is not just the ‘Harry Potter-stuff’ we see in the movies.
Granted, the ‘Harry Potter-stuff’ is exciting, and at least to me, well worth watching. But the real thing happens in real life. And all we need is to have our minds and eyes open in order to pick up on it...

The other day I was in a rush to get somewhere. It wasn’t that I had overslept, or just had let time slip by and consequently was late ~ I just needed to get there fast. And what happened without any rhyme or reason was something that normally I can only dream of: all traffic lights turned green the moment I approached them. To me that was far more than ‘awesome’. That, to me, is magic.

The package you are waiting for being delivered right as you get home ~ so not only do you have it immediately; you also don’t have to set up a new delivery day and time...
The long lines at the registers of the supermarket you see when you get in ~ that have dissolved by the time you have gathered what you need; allowing you to walk straight up to check out and to be on your way...
And for that matter ~ the parking place right in front of the entrance that opens up the moment you arrive...

All these things are magic as we can encounter it in our day to day lives!

And it seems that the more we are in tune with our needs and desires, the more we are in tune with what is truly important to us at that moment; and act on it ~ the more of those magical moments we encounter in life!

And then there is nature’s magic.
The rainbow...
The tiny acorn that grows out to be the mighty oak tree. We may take it for granted; yet when you think about it...
The fact that right as the little chicks hatch from their eggs, food for the hatchlings is plentiful. Even when a couple of days before that didn’t seem to be the case...
Or the little branch that cracked, that, when you set it in water will produce roots in order to become a plant, a tree all its own. Something that at times even happens with a beautiful leave you may have brought in after a walk... Given the opportunity, nature performs it own brand of magic every chance it gets!

And all we have to do is to open our minds and open our eyes ~ and enjoy it every step of the way.
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