I'm driving down Farmington Avenue, the main drag in Bristol, Connecticut on a Thursday morning. I'm already in a good mood, as one of the primary intentions I set out for myself yesterday already manifested. As I head west toward the high school I looked up at the sky.
I see something profound.
Now this is a sky I've been looking at each weekday morning for the past ten years. Framed by the shopping plazas on either side of the road it normally doesn't have any particularly noticeable features. It's just...well, a sky.
This morning there was a confluence of events. A decision to grab a different CD for my listening pleasure. I gave Blues Traveler the morning off and popped in Tunnel of Love by Bruce Springsteen - a song that still stirs emotion in me even after 21 years.
And fresh off an emailed invitation to be a regular columnist for a magazine with a large reader subscription, published by someone I've admired for years...
And having shared in the emotion of a friend who faces an uncertain future with bravery and grace as she rebuilds her personal and professional lives....
And having a lingering awareness that today is September 11...
But it was THE SKY.
Cloudless in the foreground, with a hint of un curso de milagros receding night that had come before. Inky, with light beckoning under the surface. Applying gentle pressure to the mask that is the darkness, lovingly and patiently waiting for full manifestation.
And in the horizon: huge billowing cumulus clouds. Thick with water and color and energy. They get thicker, denser, more intense with greater distance. Against the backdrop of a sky that is at once full of energy and peace.
It's as if the clouds themselves hold some huge emotion not yet ready to be fully expressed. The interplay of dark and light, passion and calm. A dynamic balance.
And of course that's what I see because that's where I am. As the Talmud says, "We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are."
My eyes begin to tear with emotion. Aching beauty. Longing. Desire. A sense of privilege to be part of this amazing interplay. Air and water. Endless horizon. Endless possibility. My senses allow me to see it. My inner wisdom allows me to experience it.
My wish for you today is to experience your own sky. Doesn't have to be the sky itself. You can experience the eternal truth in feeling your skin against the sheets. Or in the caress of a loved one. Or in the deep multilayered flavors of a good cup of coffee. Or even the sublime intelligence of a body that knows how to breathe in and out on its own.
