The day opens up clear and cold.
It shows the islands across the wide bay as low,
Blue-gray shadows sunken partly behind the curve of the earth.
The new sunlight frosts the tops of every island near and far in a glinting glaze of light.
The frozen distances are made greater by the silence that stretches between here and there.
The silence sinks down with the cold,
Invading every pore and closing off any sound,
So that everything freezes into stillness.
Even with so little motion,
The body lives and breathes,
Home to consciousness on this planet.
Travel the distances around your body,
Spanning the spaces with awareness.
Feet to legs,
Waist to chest,
Shoulders to arms,
Neck to your head.
How far is the distance to a feeling?
Consider what it will take to bring a feeling closer.
Sometimes all a feeling needs is a brief pause in all the busyness,
A slice out of time,
A timeless moment when all else drops away and only the sigh of the feeling exists.
Then the ordinary is revealed for what it is,
Both ordinary and extraordinary,
The objects and the space in between where spirit does its work.
May you appreciate the distances you travel today.
Your gift today is your view.