Day 12
extension
I love to stretch, to move parts of my body away from my core and to feel my joints relax as I release them. Just this morning I was hanging upside down and groaning with relief, as gravity pulled my head away from my neck.
As a writer I also have a sense that I am extending my thoughts or ideas out and away from my core. Sometimes there is a sense of relief as I articulate a thought, allowing creative gravity to pull it away from the thick tangle of my brain work.
So much of our life is lived over-extended. Pushing ourselves to these crazy limits to make money, finish projects, keep our relationships together. Stretching ourselves is good, but it can do so much damage. One of the only regrets I have in my life is over-extending myself at the expense of being there for my kids. This is a fairly common regret for parents, I think.
Again, I try to learn from the landscape I live in. I see a lot of extension in trees, in rivers, even in the vast stretch of a valley. These things are reaching, down into the soil, up into the sunlight; or are being pulled down and away from the high places toward the sea. The sea itself extends from one shore to another and down into depths we have yet to measure. But there is no over doing it. The tree goes just as high as nutrients will allow, the river falls this way, then that and takes however long it takes to reach the sea.
Sigh. If only I could learn to do the same. If only I could be in my body, like a tree, putting down my roots just enough, stretching just enough; trusting the length of the season. Perhaps with some practice, I can extend myself just enough to get what I need, to give what is needed, without compromising my stability. As I write that, I feel its true-ness. It must be possible. I am so grateful for the river to show me the way.
