Impressions
Good Morning,
Life is not like taking a walk through a forest with an accurate compass. It's more like walking through a long, high labyrinth. A labyrinth is a circular path that will, if you just keep walking, bring you to the center. You may feel disoriented, not know exactly where you are, but you're not lost.
I walked a labyrinth once. A grand one located in Miami at the Viscaya Villa and gardens. I walked along the path taking deliberate steps, with my mind open and my heart listening. At the time, I was looking down as my foot made contact with the earth. A powerful emotion coursed through me. I realized that this footprint was completely unique. Never before seen, never again to be experienced as it is, even by me. It was wholly, completely it's own, created by the relationship of my foot to the ground. The moment was a dance of parts creating a whole: the blade of grass, the dirt, my foot, the surrounding air, and the sun that shone upon it. It was sacred, never to be again as it is now.
I once watched a documentary about the life of Buckminster Fuller called Thinking Out Loud. In his mid-twenties he went through an incredibly difficult period. His only daughter had died very young, when she was still a toddler, and he was drinking heavily to deal with the pain. As the story was told, he was contemplating suicide near a lake one evening. As he looked out over the water, he realized he could not kill himself. He had collected certain knowledge that was wholly his own, his footprint in this world, if you will. As such, he could not kill himself, as it was his obligation to share it with others.
I now understood his reasoning. You might not know where you're going, even how you got here, but know this much: where you are is exactly where you need to be. The unique footprint called "you" is being created now. Our own footprint may seem lacking at times, yet Buckminster Fuller saw hope in his footprint even at the darkest hour. This is the responsibility at hand: to see your footprint as it is, special and unique. The world needs your footprint.
But you have to see it first.
Peace and Love, Jim
Life is not like taking a walk through a forest with an accurate compass. It's more like walking through a long, high labyrinth. A labyrinth is a circular path that will, if you just keep walking, bring you to the center. You may feel disoriented, not know exactly where you are, but you're not lost.
I walked a labyrinth once. A grand one located in Miami at the Viscaya Villa and gardens. I walked along the path taking deliberate steps, with my mind open and my heart listening. At the time, I was looking down as my foot made contact with the earth. A powerful emotion coursed through me. I realized that this footprint was completely unique. Never before seen, never again to be experienced as it is, even by me. It was wholly, completely it's own, created by the relationship of my foot to the ground. The moment was a dance of parts creating a whole: the blade of grass, the dirt, my foot, the surrounding air, and the sun that shone upon it. It was sacred, never to be again as it is now.
I once watched a documentary about the life of Buckminster Fuller called Thinking Out Loud. In his mid-twenties he went through an incredibly difficult period. His only daughter had died very young, when she was still a toddler, and he was drinking heavily to deal with the pain. As the story was told, he was contemplating suicide near a lake one evening. As he looked out over the water, he realized he could not kill himself. He had collected certain knowledge that was wholly his own, his footprint in this world, if you will. As such, he could not kill himself, as it was his obligation to share it with others.
I now understood his reasoning. You might not know where you're going, even how you got here, but know this much: where you are is exactly where you need to be. The unique footprint called "you" is being created now. Our own footprint may seem lacking at times, yet Buckminster Fuller saw hope in his footprint even at the darkest hour. This is the responsibility at hand: to see your footprint as it is, special and unique. The world needs your footprint.
But you have to see it first.
Peace and Love, Jim
posted by The Daily Buddha at 7:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home