Sandy's August/September 2022
Qigong Newsletter

 

Musings About Life's Mysteries

I’ve just returned from a personal retreat at our cabin, feeling refreshed and invigorated.  At the risk of appearing scattered and incoherent, I wish to share some excerpts from my journal these past few days (please excuse grammar, punctuation, abrupt transitions – it’s just the way my monkey-mind wanders!):

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I’m sitting in our new screened porch at the lake – my newest ‘Happy Place’. I can feel the lake breeze, hear the loons call, the frogs croak, leaves rustling and the Kingfisher's dive-SPLASH!  It encourages me to breath in deeply and relax fully. It’s space that calls people to gather, laugh, reflect on life.

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It also helps me to connect with my internal ‘happy place’, to find my balance, my homeostasis, and my spiritual peace.  The world goes on around me and I am safe, content, open and receptive.

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It also calls me outward...says, “Come explore, experience life (and the lake) to its fullest!"

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Even on days where the soft rain turns to a windy storm that drives me inside, it teaches me, reminds me of the fragile nature of contentment, and of all the ways I am not in control of my life.  

 

Then, in a blink of my eye, the sun reappears and beckons me outward again – to live, to serve, to love, to experience loss and grief and pain…to experience the full spectrum of emotions.  I am suddenly overcome with awe, at the mystery of it all; at the beauty of it all; at my deep sense of connection to all living beings.

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Yesterday I was reminded of the reason I have always loved math and algebra (and lately, games like Sudoku and Free Cell Solitaire) – because there is a clear end point where the problem is solved. There may be many paths to the same end, but there IS an end point, a ‘correct’ answer, even.

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And the rest of my life is nothing like that…no clear solutions or resolutions…just continual awareness of ‘what is’, and a desire for transformation toward something better, something deeper, something more.

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Given this human nature, this striving, can I ever find peace in the midst of life's chaos, loss and suffering? 

 

YES!  Because somehow in the midst of COVID, of wars and countless refugees, of

global warming and natural disasters, of political extremism, of human trafficking, of twin babies lost; of the grief of husbands, parents and friends no longer with me…somehow in the midst of all this human suffering, I am offered peace, by this soul-felt reassurance that I am never alone.

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And I will accept it, honor it, and hold it as long as I can, for THIS moment. And THIS one.

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My mind longs for fuller understanding of the mysteries of life – that’s my ego, I suppose, wanting to ‘get it’, to figure it all out once and for all…like a Sudoku puzzle or algebra equation.

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But the ever-changing, ever-flowing waves on the lake remind me that the mysteries are too vast for my small mind.  Only the light deep in my heart, my soul, can provide the peace I long for.

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I smile at this awareness, and my heart sings, ‘Amen!’.  This is enough for this moment.  It’s time to plant some perennials.

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Offered with humble appreciation for each of you being in my circle,

Sandy Salvo

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P.S.  See info below about the August 15th Labyrinth Walk and a new Qigong Form!