WALK IN BALANCE ON THE EARTH MOTHER
WALK IN BALANCE ON THE EARTH MOTHER: I had a dear friend, now passed, who used to sign all his letters to me with that phrase. It’s a fine sign-off. It’s a good beginning, too. In fact it’s great all by itself. But how does one do that—this walking in balance—when there’s a foul wind trying to blow you over with every step? Well, it’s not easy. You can’t just take it for granted anymore. Keeping your balance, that is.
The only way to do it, as has been discovered on many a rough portage trail, is to try harder—focus better—than you normally would. Is that hard work? Does it take extra energy and mental effort? Well, yeah. But it’s better than falling off a cliff, or into a slough. And while you’re consciously doing what you might normally take for granted, you can learn stuff. About yourself, about the world around you, about the footing underneath and the landscape of which it’s a part. It’s never a bad idea to focus. To be mindful.
So that’s what we do now. We concentrate. We consciously strive to ‘walk in balance on the Earth Mother.’ We walk better. More gently, more mindfully. More purposefully.
And all kinds of good things can come from that.
(Illustration by F. Lee Jaques, a mentor of mine, and premier drawer of the Canoe Country).