an ode to the rhythm of life

Everything has rhythm. The moon hs rhythm, the sun, the planets circling the sun all following their own cycle. The Universe is pulsing with endless and multidemensional polyrythms. 

And we too, a profound expression of all of this, also have our own rhythms. Our heart beat, sleeping and waking, the movement of walking, our daily routines - all are rhythm.

And yet somehow human beings have become so accustomed to the tick, tick, tick of time. The clock telling us when it's time to wake up, when it's time to eat, go to work, have lunch. It's time to pay our bills, pay our taxes, time to vote. We pay for time, get paid for time, have to put in leave in order to make use of the time that is granted to us by a higher power. There's time for tv, time for bed, time to retire. How much time do we have left until we die..

And yet underneath it all is the gentle, constant, rhythm. Our hearts beating, and our chest rising and falling with each breath, like the tides of the ocean dancing to the rhythm of the moon. 

Perhaps our survival, our response to this 'global crisis' is not so much about bail-outs, reducing carbon emissions, working harder, and all of the so-called solutions we come up with to fix a problem that we really don't fully understand.

Perhaps it's more about learning to listen again, learning to surf, learning to dance, learning to drum like our ancestors did - moving, breathing and making love to the rhythm of life.

Breaking the rules

"But why?"- and the typical answer - "Because I said so!"
Children can be frustrating - like explaining to your 4yr old that she can't wear ballet leotard to school - it's just not practical. It's actually refreshing, though - now that I think about it removed from the war of trying to get kids to school on time. Children don't always think or behave like they're supposed to. They seem to know what it is to fully experience being alive. As we get older we learn to conform, to think in certain ways, to behave 'correctly'. Sometimes we're so busy doing the right thing that we forget how to really live.

I watched "As it is in heaven" Last night. This is a translation of Gabriella's song I found here:

It is now that my life is mine
I’ve got this short time on earth
And my longing has brought me here
All I lacked and all I gained
And yet it’s the way that I chose
My trust was far beyond words
That has shown me a little bit
Of the heaven I’ve never found
I want to feel I’m alive

All my living days I will live as I desire
I want to feel I’m alive
Knowing I was good enough
I have never lost who I was I have only left it sleeping
Maybe I never had a choice
Just the will to stay alive

All I want is to be happy
Being who I am
To be strong and to be free
To see day arise from night
I am here and my life is only mine
And the heaven I thought was there
I’ll discover it here somewhere

I want to feel that I’ve lived my life


That reminds me of something Joseph Campbell said:

I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive..