How do you want this life to feel?
One of my teachers, Celia Blackwood, produces a moon teaching every 3 days (Playing Along with the Moon.) Today, September 3, 2019, the moon is a waxing moon in Scorpio, a water moon. It’s a time to meditate, journey and ritual on the deep questions and to clarify our intentions. I love this question she posed with the teaching: How do you want this life to feel?
Often we strive and do things in order to achieve this feeling, but we haven’t actually clarified that it’s the feeling we desire. Our desires often manifest as what we want to DO, rather than how we want to feel. So this question gets us back to the essence. How do we want this life to feel?
I pondered this question on a bench outside this morning, sipping my tea, surrounded by the beautiful 
Sierra to the west and the White Mountains to the east. My answer to this question is that I want to feel more joy, to embrace more moments. My gaze fell upon a young Pinyon Pine in our yard. I spent a bit of time dropping into my heart, acknowledging and connecting with this tree that I’ve appreciated some, but never spent time with. After a few minutes, I began to feel communion. And I felt that communion as deep, lasting joy, beyond the moment, easily accessible by simply being in the moment and having the intention of connecting. And then staying, staying a bit past when I got the urge to move on to the next thing. Pema Chodron’s teaching of “remaining like a log” came in handy! This is a practice, this communion!
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.―
One of my commitments to this communion practice is to notice one thing every day that brings me delight. And then spend time with that one thing–in silence, and then journaling, drawing, singing, writing poetry, etc. One thing. Five + minutes. It is my belief that this ritual is one way to cultivate communion, this deep joy that I would like more of in my life.
Krista Tippett has a lovely interview with Ross Gay about delight on her podcast On Being. This uplifting interview continues to inspire me to notice and cultivate and immerse in delight.
I intend to delight. I intend to cultivate joy and communion. I write this because there is power in intention, and even more power in sharing our intentions. Thank you for being my witness!
Deepest Valley Qigong 