Wisdom within

Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as knowing what to do next. Herbert Hoover

It was a week of sitting on the dock, feeling the gentle up and down motion of its sway pulling me away from stress into tranquility and calmness. It was a week of sun and fun and laughter and wine. A week with good friends doing what good friends do when faced with an empty calendar and lots of time to share being friends -- laughter, food, wine, stories, exploring and having fun.

We were on Kootenay Lake. A deep basin of water situated in the southern interior of British British Columbia. Mountains dress in fir trees and dying pines soared up from the shore touching the blue, blue sky high above. It is the dying pines that seemed so sad, so out of place in such a vibrant area. The pine beetles have had their way, chewing through tree bark into the delicate life force at the core of every tree. Amidst the green boughs of fir and spruce, the dry, red needles of the pines are a stark reminder of nature's fury. There is no cure for the pine beetle, no defence. Entire mountainsides are decimated by their hunger. Valleys are stripped bare, denuded of all vegetation.

And yet, there is a beauty in the deforestation. The trees are burnt red. Ochre. Tinder dry they remind us that life is an impermanent journey. No matter how much we know, life always has a surprise or two in store. Life always has its own way of bringing us back to what is important.

On this trip I was reminded of what is important everywhere I looked. C.C. and I drove out Thursday morning, a meandering route through Rockies, into the interior along the vastness of lakes lying like jewels in the centre of the surrounding peaks. He drove. I read and slept and occasionally chatted. Comfortable. Serene. Quiet. We were relaxed.

It set the tone for the week. Quiet. Serenity. Time unfolding at its pace as we flowed with it, into it, through it.

It was a week to refresh, to rekindle, to reconnect. A week to sink into the truth of what it means to be 'in relationship', to have a relationship, to be relational.

it was a week to cherish.

I am refreshed. Reinvigorated. Refocused. I spent a lot of time this week writing in my journal in the early dawn hours while C.C. and our two friends slept in the house. I'd awake, make a pot of coffee, gather up my book and journal and yoga mat and wander out onto the dock. Beneath the clear blue sky, the gentle swaying of the dock beneath me, I spent a couple of hours doing yoga, meditating, writing and reading. It was an ideal start to my day. As the rest of the crew awoke, I returned, refreshed and clear minded.

I have some decisions to make, some changes to set in motion, some ideas to flesh out. I am wiser for having taken the time to get to know where I'm at, and where I want to go, discerning what to do next. I am wiser for the time spent getting in touch with me, myself and I.

The question is: Are you sinking into the wisdom within, willingly letting yourself dip into the clear waters of your intuition, your knowing? Are you listening to your knowing what to do next?