snow on rocks

snow rocks
Originally uploaded by c'estbonne

It's January, and another layer of snow is falling. We've had more this winter so far than we have in many years. Always another layer...

I've enjoyed snowshoeing, and have discovered some of those wintermagic moments in the woods, the ones that make me feel a little sorry for people who live in Florida. The seasons each have their own character, their own purpose and gift, and their own beauty. Hushed under intimate coverings of white snow, every tree, every branch, every twig, every puckered red rosehip and dried snowberry becomes equal, and equally significant in the new landscape. Accumulating snowflakes define every detail with graceful precision, and cover the chaos of underbrush with quiet assertion. And we experience something utterly, fascinatingly different from what the world was a few months ago.

On the other hand, layer after layer of snow reminds me of other inundations, the onslaught of stimuli and demands each day brings. It's easy to become buried with mental lists, tasks and errands, election updates, and satellite tv. An influx of information and images waits its chance to pour into us everywhere we turn our heads. If we allow this on a continuous basis, we soon lose touch with our own still, calm sense of who we are and where we want to go, of presence with the activities we perform and of what really matters to us.

I for one wish to live mindfully--being steered by my own sense of authenticity and intuition, remembering what I came here for, and finding meaning in my life each day. When the crowding of the world's dreams and dramas presses on me like the avalanche it sometimes becomes, it's time for me to turn off all the channels, and allow the clear flowing stream of stillness to reorient me to myself. Whether in the midst of beauty or chaos, I would rather choose for myself than have the world choose for me.