when trees dance

There were a couple of days last week in which we were blessed with wind singing songs through the leaves and rain quenching the thirst of the earth. One evening, as the wind raged on through the trees in our front yard, Asher inquired as to why "the trees and grass (were) dancing?". That little question got me doing a whole lot of thinking....why aren't they?

I wonder about the magic of life and when it is that some of us begin to see things for only what they are through explanation or proof. When is it that we lose sight of the unseen, the mystery and search hard for theory and logistic. Is there a moment that comes where it gets too uncomfortable to just sit with this idea...that trees dance to the music of the sky? I've been wondering about why we hide that way of thinking at times. Why do we have this habitual way of communicating with each other where we cover the basics and touch only on the surface of living. I have always struggled with this...making small talk. As a teenager I would grow anxious of talking with people in passing...because I thought I sucked at small conversation. I wanted to dig too deep, too fast and I wanted to say things that didn't make "sense". Someone actually made a comment about me once. Not to my face, but through someone else that I said "weird things sometimes". I figure it has to do with my way of letting the words slip through my lips...the ones that can be abstract and open...the ones that linger around for interpretation, the ones that invite in digging around for something...anything.

As I've gotten older, I don't struggle as much with making light conversation. I can do it and sometimes, I even enjoy it. I reached a point where I hungered for lightness and the touch and go of slight connection. It was something that brought me comfort. Now, I notice that going within doesn't have to always be heavy. It can be slithery and slight but profound. My children are light and yet they provoke enough thought to sprinkle the sky. They speak little but say a whole lot...and they always keep their minds wide open to the wonder. This kind of perspective makes it so easy to communicate wisdom through questions. Questions that perhaps we all have, but have forgotten...or questions that we hold back because they sound a bit silly being spoken from a mind that has learned what is "real" and what is "not". It all sort of disassembles our categories of thought and the labeling of what IS and what ISN'T when we just allow the questions to exist.

The beauty of life is found in the interpretation...in the midst of an evening dance.