Sunday, December 13, 2009

Becoming Whole

I have come to terms with the future.
From this day onward I will walk
easy on the earth. Plant trees. Kill
no living things. Live in harmony with
all creatures. I will restore the earth
where I am. Use no more of its resources
than I need. And listen, listen to what
it is telling me.

M.J. Slim Hooey, Earth Prayers, 1991, p. 109
These words, I think, describe a bit of what happens when we engage in a regular t'ai chi chih moving meditation practice. Intentionally or not, we become explorers on the path of the Tao. As we listen to and experience our rootedness in the earth it begins to change us. We are no longer the independent, self-sufficient, all-knowing humans that our culture and training insist we become. Instead, we sense our connection to all of life in which we are no greater or less than the rest. We are, quite simply, a piece of the whole....

I began today's TCC practice during the slow brightening of the sky. Again, a still, silent day. Though temps rose to 20 degrees yesterday and encouraged me to practice outside today, subzero temps this morning convinced me otherwise.

My eye caught the edge of a print hanging on our living room wall as I began today's movements. It's a painting by local artist Jan Hartley Wise that she was commissioned to paint for the Duluth, MN Women's Center.

In the painting a group of naked women lie on their backs in a circle on the ground. Their rumps touch in the middle of the circle. Their legs, bent at the hip, extend upward toward the sky. Their heads reach out toward the rim of the circle, arms raised above their heads. Hair flows in a spiral around them weaving into tiny, tough tree roots. Standing atop each woman's extended legs and feet is another woman. Each of these women, too, stands naked and erect with arms pointing skyward. Legs and body parts merge together to form the trunk of a human tree. A spiral of life circles 'round their heads ... a circle of leaves, a flock of white birds--some black birds too--and another level of women rises above them. At the very top a white stork stands atop one woman's head, wings extended.

My interpretation? Jan visually portrays the important role played by our mothers and grandmothers and beyond in connecting us to the circle of life. As women, we are supported by the lives, the past achievements, and the love extended to us by our ancestors. Each of us, in our daily practice, is that tree. When we consciously envision our rootedness in the Earth and our suspension from Heaven, we feel nurtured and sustained by the natural world too. We are a part of the Tree of Life. It makes us whole.

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