A dear friend captured this candid of me in my element in Nosara, Costa Rica back in April of this year. One of my favorite places in this world. It’s been a healing, grounding and connecting place for me – I sometimes think of it as a second home. I have developed a solid community there and I notice I go out of my way to linger there a bit longer and re-visit more than any other place I have visited in my journey. That’s a different expression to be shared at another time.
One thing I love about this place are the sunsets. It’s a sight, a gathering, a place of connection. Most bring their dogs – the best kind of yappy/happy hour in my opinion… to gaze at the sun while fur balls run around with joy. The sunset typically shifts from this white mystic golden light to orange and vibrant pink hues. Every time it is unique, different and magical.
It’s ethereal like a sunrise, the gaze of trees nestled in a mountain range, or a view above the clouds. It’s as if something greater than you exists, a shift into a sacred space where “time is an illusion” proves certain as it melts in the awe-struck moment. There’s a dissolving act to the past, present, push, & pull to whatever emotional chemical cocktail is present. Time stands still and you are there enjoying not just the beauty with your eyes, but you can feel this full body experience that makes you feel alive, full of gratitude, full of wonder. Sometimes, it’s like a big hug that says “welcome home.” It is a sacred space that invites in the flow of love.
There’s a quote I love by Andrea Gibson. And it’s all about facing the moment with love, compassion, self acceptance and courage. Something we can practice with ourselves as thoughts, stories, shoulds, emotions arise.
What I love most about Gibson’s words “It takes so much love to tremble” is the power to face the dance of whatever is present with bravery and courage. No matter what swell you are experiencing – pleasant or unpleasant with the flow of presence, of unconditional love. No need to be right or wrong, prove or perform for acceptance or worthiness. It is for your highest evolution as it is. it is a door to deeper Self awareness. And when we let go of the judgment of whatever it is and accept it, it will dissolve, alchemize, & help you drop into this awe-struck moment. In this journey, I see clearly that a thought or story is attached to an emotion. Usually those thoughts or stories are just made up from previous experiences not valid in today’s moment (Samskaras in Sanskrit aka impressions). If not healed or released these become blocks in the body, in the heart. I am in the practice of labeling the emotion for deeper awareness and at the same time understand that an emotion is really just a sensation being experienced by this physical earth body.
In that spaciousness there is a little room that asks for connection, for help, for surrender, for trust or for love, peace.
And with observation something is listening and that something is here with us always in peace and well being. No matter the state or chatter our minds take.
I am here, witnessing with compassion, to learn to love the contents of my moment by moment reality. I breathe and remember that when things feel chaotic inside of me, there is a foundation of peace.
And a way to reach that foundational peace is by going through the wildness of my own being. Like the sunset, YOUR love helps to dissolves the sensation and you are back into the flow – tension and release.
Think of a place in nature that was so awe-struck in its beauty that all else dissolved even for just a mini moment.
Close your eyes and go back to that place.
Feel it in the body, the mind and now in the heart. Share with me if you feel called.
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