I Took a Breather

Some fresh air will do you good. Really.

I haven't been blogging for over three weeks. I haven't been climbing my mountain for over three months. For a while now I have been directing so much of my energy towards my outer realms....making room for deepening connections....that it's almost as though my inner planet has tilted off its axis. And while I have been aware of this for some time (finding a balance between what I need inwardly and what I need outwardly has always been a struggle), it wasn't until I tied my laces and headed for the mountain this morning, that I realised how far off track I had actually wandered.

Immediately I noticed a welcome committee of birdsong, and I could almost hear the trees whispering where have you been? We missed you. As I moved deeper into the woods and up the familiar slopes I felt as though I was being hugged by an old friend. It felt so good to be back.

A few months ago, I started to feel apathetic about climbing my mountain. I began to get bored, which has never happened to me in the eight years I have been climbing. This really bothered me because I knew it was an important part of my day to come and find my inner spaces. It wasn't just a good work out for me...it was a daily meditation that centered me for the rest of the day.

But sometimes I think we need to take a break from things to really find our appreciation for them again. I didn't want to come back until I was truly ready to make a commitment to myself, and climb daily. So when I returned this morning, I knew, without a doubt that it was time. It felt so good to be there. What was too familiar and commonplace a few months ago was now beautifully familiar and comforting now. I found myself pausing in certain places, just so I could look around and breathe it all in again. The old knotted oak trees are covered in a flourescent aqua marine lichen...the hillsides are bright green with moss and new grasses...baby leaves are sprouting from branches, slowly filling in the empty spaces that Autumn left behind.

As I walk out of these spaces, and back into the busy world, I walk down a path under a tunnel of tree branches and it feels like I am emerging out of a womb. I am leaving the quiet forest where I have room to think and be with the gentle rhythms of nature, and moving back into the daily busyness of living and doing.

It really is a different world on that mountain. Within that mountain. And it has everything to do with how and when I come here to write. Many of my thoughts are gathered there. Most often, I write my posts just after I have climbed, when my energy is high, and my creativity is flowing, sometimes overflowing.

And I feel ready to be here once again. Writing and sharing, taking pictures of beautiful things, visiting with you, reading your words and ideas, being inspired by your creative lives. I cannot do these things if I am not in touch with my insides. I have strayed too long, and had to set my planet back on its proper axis. What a difference a little bit of fresh air will do you.

Breathe deeply.