the Shift... (planting seeds)

a micro millimeter...

a brushstroke...

a flinch we unknowingly pick up on from another...

all can have monumental reprocussions.

a shift is defined as... move or cause to move from one place to another, especially over a small distance

and

a slight change in position, direction, or tendency.

My life is filled with these shifts. Imperceivable to most. But some of them are loud, intentional, demanded, frustratingly coaxed. The perfection of those pictures hanging exactly 16 1/2 inches apart and 2 2/3 inches from the corner of the window frame (not the top).

This shift eliminates a flood of anxiety in my heart that comes from the daily hours spent staring at this wall as I teach.

I know this. My last studio had a picture not "shifted" and I had to force myself not to obsess over it. "Those are brick walls... too much trouble to realign..".

"...but it drives me crazy"!

But the refusal from others to assist us, when needed, to attain our "shifts" (for whatever reason), plants a bitter seed.

It is often buried deep but shakes and stirs each time the anxiety creeps in over said "shift".

Do we do this on our mats... as students waiting for the loving cue from our teachers to ease the discomfort we are assured is apparent?

Or when we need a hands on adjustment or assist that gets blindly overlooked? Do we let our needs (they are needs and not wants if they create emotional tension) push us into a resentful corner so we start to seek something else?

We often feel our needs are so observable to others if they just paid attention.

So their refusal to acknowledge them must mean something!

...said seed sprouts...

We never even realize that WE can control these shifts...

WE can make them happen.

We ARE strong enough, smart enough, empowered enough...

to lead the charge.

Have we been taught that others have the key...

the answer...

the right tool?

Why do we wait?

Gathering seeds...

Sometimes when we DO get "shifts" it creates just as much tension. They aren't the "shifts" we wanted or even think we need. We DO know what is best for us right?

Or do we?

Are we stuck in a cyclic, destructive pattern that we insist is cultivating a better version of ourselves?

...and we come out of our corners, teeth bared to verbally accost anyone who challenges our "growth"?

Why have we all become so rigid in mind and body that it is impossible to unearth our beginners mind? Can we not still look at every new situation (and with stillness and patience...the old) with curosity and eagerness?

Knowing is the enemy of learning...

Sometimes the shift we NEED is a full breath, a softened heart and a soul gazing at another.

Those quiet moments open a deep window to reflection

micro millimeter... a brushstroke... that can have monumental reprocussions