Wherever you are,
Take a moment to find your here.
Your sense of being located in this moment,
In this time,
In this body and place.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
Recently,
I visited a waterfall here in Minnesota.
I often visit this waterfall in late summer,
When the water is slow and smooth.
One year when my kids were young,
The water was so tame,
They'd been able to play in the pool at the bottom.
This time,
In late spring,
There was an unending roar of sludgy water as snowmelt rushed over the rock.
Anything that found itself in that overwhelming current would have been swept away and dashed to pieces.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Many of us have probably heard of monkey mind,
But recently I came across the phrase,
The waterfall of thoughts.
As I stood on the edge of this wild and dangerous rush of water,
I could appreciate the power of that metaphor.
There are times when there is a generous and calm flow to our thoughts,
When they are slow and smooth enough to reflect the golden light.
Inhale,
Exhale.
There are times when our thoughts can feel like that spring waterfall,
Fueled by a higher than usual snowmelt.
In other words,
When life events are out of our control,
Our minds can turn turbulent,
Fed with a charging and overwhelming energy.
Then it can feel almost impossible to stop the roaring thoughts that charge and rush,
Creating damage and dangerous whirlpools.
Inhale,
Exhale.
What's more,
Even though it was mid-April,
It was snowing when I visited the waterfall.
That snow covered icy patches as I walked toward the roaring.
I feared that my feet would start slipping,
And nothing would stop me from plunging into that destructive rush.
I got very careful and very intentional.
I tested each and every step.
I held on to the handrail,
And when I got near enough to the edge,
I planted my feet.
I watched.
I breathed.
There was no stopping that water.
But that was actually a good thing.
If the green of new growth was going to happen,
This snow had to melt.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Sometimes you have to let go of what is keeping you frozen and buried.
This might be messy and even terrifying,
But it's what needs to happen to find new life and growth.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Something else I realized.
When our thoughts rush and roar,
Swirl and suck,
We have to be as careful and intentional as we can.
What are the things that will keep us safe?
What are the things that allow us to watch that waterfall rather than drown in it?
Inhale.
Exhale.
As I stood there,
I also had the opportunity to practice being the curious witness.
I was not the waterfall.
I was not in the waterfall.
I was standing beside it,
Watching it do what it would,
And letting it go on its way.
Why in the heck is it so much easier to do that with an actual waterfall as compared to our overwhelming waterfall of thoughts,
Especially in the deepest,
Darkest nights of our souls?
I have no answer.
But when thoughts threaten to flood and drown,
There is this practice of getting grounded,
Careful,
Intentional about breathing in and breathing out.
There is this practice of watching the thoughts curiously from a safe distance.
There is this practice of surrendering that which is frozen and buried in us,
Of letting it all go.
Inhale.
Exhale.
You are here.
You are grounded.
You are centered.
You are safe and can handle whatever's next.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Live Light.
