Growth

Outside tonight, I felt called to step off my comfortable spot on the porch and put my hands on the wet grass, put my face down to smell the wet earth. When I looked up, I glimpsed the moon for a moment through the swiftly moving clouds. A shudder passed through me at the sight of it; the glowing center in an otherwise dark landscape of clouds, and then to see the full outline of the moon beyond the clouds was delicious.

In moments like this, witnessing pure beauty, I have learned recently that I have a choice. I can let that shudder run through me, physically feel the delicious sensation of whatever I am witnessing. Or, as I newly discovered, I can open myself up as a channel of sorts, letting the wonder and appreciation flow through me and then out of me, out into the universe. By doing this, I forgo the physical pleasure, but then a deeper appreciation comes, an understanding of the meaning of the moment that grounds me, matures me. I sacrifice a fleeting pleasure for an understanding that invariably connects me more fully to the earth, helps me to grow in my relation to things.