Allowing
July 17, 2022
Allowing is the way of the willow, flowing with the breeze reaching deep for water in the heat bending in the passing storm. Allowing is the way of birds, shifting, changing, adapting to the day. Today the mulberries sustain, tomorrow it might be mayflies. Allowing is not a place I come to easily. An act of surrender. Letting myself be moved rather than trying, striving or wanting to "make it so". Allowing words to flow onto the page. Unedited, uncontrolled. Free from rules created in my mind, rules about what is wanted in the world. What will happen if I allow the water of spirit to flow freely through my being? Allowing breath, silence, compassion to erode the boundaries of my heart and bring me once again to love.
(I want to give the most grateful credit to a wise member of my sangha who used the phrase, “letting the practice erode the boundaries” and inspired my writing this week. Thank you wise friend!)
This idea of allowing reminds me of watching the perfect timing of nature at the end of May. The geese were preening off their winter feathers, preparing for the heat of summer. The swallows were swooping in to gather the feathers and taking them off to line their nests. The exquisite timing of it reminded me that sometimes the resources we need do arrive just as we need them. In a world that increasingly feels like this is not always true, it is helpful to me to remember.
Right now I am doing my best to allow the ups and downs of the weather to be what they are and praying for all beings as we endure the hot, dry conditions. We had one very cool morning this week (63 degrees!) amidst a lot of hot days. I did my best enjoy and to take in that beautiful, cool, foggy morning. The birds were enjoying it too with many more birds than I’ve been seeing appearing out of their usual spots back in the shade of the trees.
One of the joys this time of year are the baby birds finding their way in the world. I watched two western kingbird fledglings leave the nest but stay very close to each other. Even though they had the whole tree to roam in, they seemed to feel safer snuggled up together. Kingbird mama even allowed me to see the “crown’ on the top of her head, at least a tiny glimpse of it as she was preening. I’ve never seen it before! They tend to only show it when they are trying to scare off a predator.
The eastern kingbirds have been very prolific this year too and eastern kingbird fledglings are everywhere. Young birds are like young children in so many ways - playing, trying things, batting at each other, chasing and competing. They really do remind me what it means to explore the world with curiosity, keeping an open mind and allowing anything at all to be marvelous and wonderful.
Then there are the larger youngsters, like this northern flicker who was crying in the tree above me. Mom was nearby, encouraging but not helping him forage in the mulberry bushes. Listening to his plaintive sounds, I was thinking how hard it must be to be a parent and not rush in to help your baby but rather allow them to grow into their independence.
I suppose the reality is we aren’t really “allowing” at all. Maybe w are just releasing tension and resistence to what is happening. Some days I practice with my camera allowing my body to move and follow the birds with less effort. Occasionally I get a glimpse that my conscious mind isn’t really in charge of the camera at all. This is very helpful when I’m trying to follow dragonflies in the air or birds swooping for bugs. My conscious mind can’t keep up but if I can release into that allowing sometimes I get the shot.
This week I caught a feather in the air practicing this way when it fell right off a bird. I may not know what magic is or how it works, but I know that capturing a feather that fell right in front of your camera lens is assuredly magic.
It feels so difficult to accept the world as it is right now. My hope and prayer is that the allowing enables us to find our right action in the world. Sending you all love for whatever is unfolding in your life.
Your words continue to be in a perfect synchronicity with where life is currently leading me. So many people talk about the body having an innate healing wisdom, and the mind having an innate intelligence. Your words remind me that at the heart of it all is the Innate Wonder of the Universe.
Thank you for your kind reminder..
A wise friend (God rest her soul) used to call the opposite of allowing "pushing the river." When I would get uptight and aggressively controlling about something, she would gently say, "Don't push the river." And often she would mix the metaphor and add, "Because that's riding the horse in the wrong direction." I'm going to keep your image of the falling feather before my mind's eye as a reminder of what what "allowing" looks like.