Allow Rather than Interfere

Yesterday's late afternoon/early evening rain leapfrogged us into spring. Today green buds burst from the treetops and ... naked branches are naked no more. This happens every year. Spring arrives in the middle of the night and at dawn we awaken to an entirely different world than the one we'd grown used to over intervening months.

Frances and I spied the meteor that whisked through our atmosphere last night. She noticed it first as she glanced out our south patio door. After I heard her quietly repeat Wow-Wow-Wow, I turned and looked too. It sped brightly by followed by a flash and thunderous sound. No. It wasn't thunder and lightning. But what was it? This morning's internet news answered that question.

Today's TCC class met in a different room in the basement of Bell Town Hall. Ten of us circled a steel pole in the center of the room and moved in harmony (sometimes more harmoniously than others, perhaps). One student mentioned that she liked the basement space because there were less distractions, fewer windows to look out, less to see. I enjoyed the feeling of intimacy and coziness as we stood closer together to fit the smaller space.

Verse 57 of the Tao stimulated much discussion of Wayne Dyer's chapter called "Living without Authoritarianism." Dyer distilled the message of this verse down to these four words: allow rather than interfere. That's the essence of t'ai chi chih practice, of course, as we relax-release-let go of muscle tension, strain, thoughts, distractions (all the things that potentially interfere with our practice) and allow the chi to flow.

Wow-Wow-Wow-Allow-Allow-Allow