My life has undergone something of a revolution in recent weeks. The first seeds of change have been sown and a fresh, weightless breeze is blowing through cobwebs and the gathered dust. It’s as though I’ve re-discovered the essence of who I am, what I want out of life and recognise the need for that fulfilment. It’s time to break free of those self imposed restrictions and express. A tremendous potential exists in the heart of every individual, though it felt like mine had gone AWOL for the best part of six years…
I try and be open to all things, to believe that value can be found in everything- that one simply has to find and look wherever that may be. My girlfriend and I had taken ‘time out’ from seeing one another for a few weeks and so using this philosophy towards dealing with the change I embarked on a journey of self discovery. Rather than throwing my arms out to her I threw my arms out wide and stretched them around the unfolding emptiness in a universal hug. Embrace the emptiness and the soul within I thought.
My first foray took me down South to London where I met my youngest daughter for lunch.
Any Capital City seems to have it’s own dynamism and self absorbed economy. I thrive on mainlining into the slipstream and allowing myself to feel part of some grand interconnecting energy. Many complain that it is soulless, that people don’t have time for one another. Personally I love the anonymity, people may rush but I guess the trick if there is one is not to get too carried away with that.
A day to rival any other. We diverted down memory lane for a brief libation in Shepherds Market where her grandmother used to work before slipping back and forth to Fernandez and Wells. Polpo’s was the lunchtime filler and I marvelled at this like minded soul I had for company. We were our own entity and nothing else mattered.
In I’d been teaching English as a second language at a Summer School for a while, over now but greatly satisfying in its duration. As a practicing Buddhist I felt I was doing something good for mankind. Smoothing the pathways of International Communication and developing global citizens in some small way. Seeing people from different communities around the world interacting, laughing at themselves and contributing to the whole is a humbling experience. The single statement that I try to underpin my life with runs through it too…..unity in diversity.
The following weekend I was lucky enough to escort a group of students down to London for a trip. After checking them off at Hyde Park corner I lost myself in the gastric hub of Borough Market. The colours saturate the eyeballs magnificently and the smell from the street food intoxicate, the most frustrating thing you’ll ever have to deal with in this mouthwatering melting pot is deciding what to eat. After a good stroll down the South Bank with the other weekenders I checked my crew on the bus and checked myself on a train down to Brighton.
I started practicing Buddhism in Brighton eleven years ago and miss all the fellow practitioners when I left it in 2010. So going back and re-kindling all those karmic links re-ignited that declaration of intent made years ago. It was my oldest friend who introduced me to this Japanese Buddhism, he’d conquered many hangups in life and feeling inspired I decided to have a go- it changed my life. So ruminating on the best step forward he placed three golden pieces of guidance that had once been passed to him in my lap. 1. Build on your victories. 2.Do it for Sensei (our mentor). 3.Whatever it is, do whatever it takes. Simple. The Watford Gap didn’t have so much distance between it on the return journey….it was beginning to close….
The next week came to a close in more ways than one but my plans for visiting where I grew up in Wales flourished. I stayed with my oldest mate’s mother up close to the mountain tops and let the trappings of everyday life fall from the hillside with my every step.
In more affluent times I used to glide planes. The feeling set aside the mountaintop can fill you with a similar awe. The difference is being on terra firma as opposed to drifting in time and space. The magnitude and majesty of nature in all its purity captivates and releases in the same moment. Ahhh…be still.
Nothing
Else
Matters
The frequent trips up the mountains, to the local ‘American Werewolf in London’ pub and mountainside waterfalls left me in no doubt that life was good. All has purpose. I wrote, I marvelled, I speculated.
I returned a different person.
There’s a process in wine making and brewing called fining. It’s when something’s added to the mix to clarify it. These past few weeks have seen a bit of fining in my life.
I’m moving on and i’m moving up. lessons learnt.
Live a life true to oneself and not emulating others.
Transcend the lesser self to the true higher self.
Try and knit humanity together in your own sweet way.
All
Is
Good