Oh, to be sunflower confident! Stem straight, face open to the world, fringed with golden pride, exulting in God-given magnificence.

That our way will be blocked by boulders is a given.

1.  We can spend a lifetime crashing against them, only to be thrust back from where we came.

2.  Or go around them, arriving the long way.

3. Or slowly, persistently, deliberately, we carve an entry that is ours alone, fitting like  the keyhole to the key. We sail through in all our power and nothing can stop us then.

Mentally, we frame a picture-perfect life. In our mind’s eye we harmonize the disparate bits: expectations are met, loved ones do not disappoint, our shortcomings evaporate.  

But such a life traps us behind glass. We must step beyond the frame to tromp through grasses, run through fields, climb mountains, reach for clouds.  The only way to live the life we envision is to give ourselves up to the terrain, and traverse it one imperfect step at a time.

Like a two-year-old, the setting sun continues to shout her existence, resisting the dark crib of night.

Yoga teachers repeat this instruction like a mantra: “Draw everything to the center and then extend.” It bears constant repeating to internalize this wisdom. Drawing inward, we gather strength, confidence, balance, a moment of silent resolve even, before embarking upon whatever it is we are rushing to achieve. Then, and only then, do we fan out in magnificent accomplishment.

Reflection is fast becoming a lost art that only Nature makes time for.

The cairn proclaims, “I was here.” It encourages, “Go this way.” But one careless stumble, one malicious swipe and all is lost.

Come alive on the edge!  Commit to neither;dance in between! On the edge you are stone and water, blue and green, now and forever.

“Look again!” teases God. “You only think you see what I have made!”