You can wait for the storm to pass or you can learn how to bike in the rain.
Okay, the real quote is about dancing in the rain. But, the point sticks.
Life is about living.
And living it to the fullest, I believe.
Not the busiest. Full as in rich and satisfying.
Which life reminds us can equally take the form of being, as well as the doing.
I decided to go car-free in June as part of my ongoing Buy Nothing experiment and this year’s curiosity about my relationship with energy, our natural resources and my own. What are the trade-offs? Consequences? Benefits?
Feeling good about completing 48 miles (biking + running and walking) in the first week, I was all in. Rain all weekend? No problem!
Well, you know how cars can hyrdoplane on oily roads made slick by heavy rains after a dry spell? You guessed it. Bikes can too!
“Oh no” is right.
First week: 48 miles
Second week: 0 miles
Perhaps my life storm has not fully passed after the chaotic, one-thing-after-another month of May?
I was so hoping the shampoo breakthrough meant it had passed.
Laid up with a battered knee, I find myself in a surprisingly familiar state of mind. A living reminder right now, as well as an inspiring poster on my wall:
When one thing flows to another. When choices are obvious. When needs are met. And then some. When time is irrelevant. And the only place to be is here.
The time has been a gift. While recovery is new to me, retreats are not.
I cherish these times of being.
My sense has been that I mostly need to rest up and to focus any work on what’s critical, so that my body can focus on healing as quickly and effectively as possible. I am learning so much about my energy.
This is living life to the fullest right now.
By doing very little, but being very present in this opportunity.
Watching amazing documentaries about the Internet like Lo & Behold, reading excellent writing like Sherman Alexie’s memoir You Don’t have to Say You Love Me and interesting blog posts about bringing spirituality into your work, connecting online with new entrepreneur friends. All from my 40-year-old armchair, with my knee elevated and on ice.
As my needs become simpler, my life feels more effortless. My perspective grows broader and my heart opens wider. I am feeling grounded in what is truly essential as I haven’t felt in awhile.
Greg McKweon wrote in Essentialism about the disciplined pursuit of less:
“To discern what is truly essential we need space to think, time to look and listen, permission to play, wisdom to sleep, and the discipline to apply highly selective criteria to the choices we make. Ironically in [our] culture these things—space, listening, playing, sleeping and selecting—can be seen as trivial distractions.”
I think I finally see the whole vision of how Everyday Integrity will guide people to stay centered in this increasingly distracting world.
As the saying goes, life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. Perhaps this bike accident and injury is an eye of the storm?
Either way, I’m learning how to dance (on crutches) in the rain.
May you move safely and simply through the week that you are given,
Jules