A hot flash drove her from the kitchen and onto the back deck. We were making dinner when she exclaimed, “I’m burning up! I have to go outside!” Dogga and I followed but before we made it through the back door she rushed back into the house. “I have to get my camera!”
The evening light was gorgeous. Directly above us a half moon peeked through the clouds. Even with all the visual beauty, the thing that most impacted me was the stillness. There wasn’t a whisper of breeze. It felt as if time was standing still. I felt as if I could breathe. So I did.
Until that moment I wasn’t aware that I was holding my breath.
Earlier in the day we’d attended a Hands-Off rally. The energy of the crowd was vibrant and angry. Prior to the rally we’d read warnings from the organizers not to engage with any maga counter-protestors or to incite violence. The pot is boiling, the circumstance is increasingly volatile. Peaceful protest is our right so keep it peaceful.
Civil unrest is not an abstraction for us. It has not been so long ago that our city was under martial law during the riots that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The night we heard gunshots we were sitting on the deck, listening to the sounds of the rioters, scrolling for news, our go-bag packed and ready: Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two protestors and maimed a third mere blocks from our house.
Kerri showed me her photos of the sky. Her shots of the half moon. I took another deep breath.
The sky has always been a great perspective-giver. If I ever fool myself into thinking I’m-all-that, I need only look at the night sky to put myself into proper context. When I feel blue or frightened I find a sunset or sunrise a healing balm. This, too, shall pass. The drama of humankind is not the bigger picture.
“I think we have a bit of ptsd,” she said, reading my mind.
“I think you’re right,” I agreed, adding, “And, I think we have to prepare for what’s coming.”
Taking one more deep breath, breathing in the balm of the sunset, we went back inside to finish making our dinner. Grounding the chaotic abnormal in the stable normal, the sky once again provided some necessary and welcome perspective.
read Kerri’s blogpost about THE SKY
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The Direction of Intention 