"Today is the greatest day I've ever known" — William Patrick Corgan
Today...
dark red juicy strawberries,
sweet sugary nougat,
fresh cut grass,
the polarized sun setting, splintering golden light through a naked tree;
"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." — Joseph Campbell
Joy is...
...waking up to see a strip of bright blue sky in the gap where the drapes don’t quite meet.
...morning messages from your beloved.
...the smell of ground coffee beans.
...watching youtube videos of your favourite spiritual teacher...or anything to do with dogs scared of cats.
Read More"For in their hearts doth Nature stir them so, Then people long on pilgrimage to go."
—Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
From the silence beneath the noise, I feel it—a tug from the unmet mystery to wander out into the world, and a push from my desire to meet it.
My mind starts trying to formulate a plan: starting and end points, how long and far I want to walk, what time I will leave.
But this call asks for none of that. It is not about duration, exercise or a final destination. The call just asks me to get out of my chair, get dressed and follow where it leads without needing to understand where, why, how or when.
“Movement is the song of the body”—Vanda Scaravelli
The sky is denim blue as I leave the house and the oak tree is a charcoal bushy silhouette against the glowing horizon.
Today for the first time in two months I feel an honest urge to go for a walk—not for health or fitness or to train for some crazy long-distance walk but because my body feels like walking.
"Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it" — Lao Tzu
35 degrees Celsius in the middle of March. The pool beckons.
Facing forward, I climb down the ladder into the warm water that wraps around me like a welcoming silk kimono—
so soothing to my skin.
I hold my breath and slip beneath the surface.
Pulling the water down past my torso as I kick myself forward—
I fly.
In the water, I am free.
"There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub."—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Everyday, I listen for the silence beneath the noise.
We live in a busy world—daily work to earn a living, chores and to do lists, relationships to nurture and maintain, places to visit, fun to be had, plans to make, dreams to achieve.
We live in a noisy world—small talk, conversations and laughter, the constant chatter of social media and news, not to mention the thoughts that run rampant through our minds.
Yet beneath the busyness and the noise, there is silence.
"As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love—even the most simple action."— Eckhart Tolle
Whilst dreaming of what the future might hold, the places you could go, the things you might see, the things you will do.
Remember, this moment matters.
On the pavement, a grasshopper sits so still as if death has descended. A too close inspection determines it is actually still hopping full of life.
Whilst planning how you might bring those dreams to fruition, what steps you will take and by when you will take them.
Remember, this moment matters.
Kym Wilson is an Australian writer, coach and pilgrim. In late 2013, she walked 2,022 kilometres alone along the Via Francigena pilgrimage trail from Canterbury to Rome seeking inner wisdom and healing.
