Living on the Edge

Living on the Edge, Ko'olau Ridgeline, Kamananui Trail Summit, HI, March 2019, iPhone 11 Pro © Steven Crisp

Living on the Edge

What if Reality is that we are living on the edge?  The edge of what?

Right on the edge of an epic cliff, the pinnacle of a mythic mountain,
Or perhaps the mysterious precipice of the Here and Now
Looking over the edge, we cannot even see the bottom
It’s occluded by the clouded thinking of our minds

Can you sense that, in your body?  Yeah, I'm feeling a little vertigo, a little bit woozy
Exactly.  That’s what I’m talking about.  You’re tuning into it.
Your body knows something that your mind has chosen to ignore
Or is simply unwilling to recognize or acknowledge or process
And this is difficult to capture in words -- you have to feel your way

Indeed, language is both a pathway and a boundary between us.  Say what?
Life is always about the whole of it … the totality and nothing … that is, No Thing
So that’s a little taste of Living on the Edge … a reframing of you ... if you will
It requires a bit of a shift from your rational mind toward your intuitive sense
But try not to get lost in the language; words can only be a pointer, they’re not the point

Tell me, when did Creation occur?  Uhh,  I don’t know … about 14 billion years ago?
That’s just the Big Bang; I’m asking about Creation itself
Isn’t Creation happening this very moment?  Indeed, only in this moment?
In fact, isn't that knife-edge precipice the very place where Life lives us?
The exhilaration of birthing this very universe, in the eternal Now

You are both an insignificant speck of stardust and a magical note in this universal symphony 
Without you, this world would not exist … think about that … or rather, feel that and be that
Look deeply enough at anything in Nature and you will see it shimmer with Life’s creative energy
You are that very same creative energy … that inexhaustible, infinite potential
It’s coursing through your veins and thriving in the trillions of cells that constitute your body-mind

That creative energy is pumping every heartbeat, which races faster as you inch closer to that edge
Don’t worry!  You cannot fall from this edge, but you can leap, and if you’re willing, soar
Above the clouds of us vs. them, of right and wrong, of judgment and even preference itself
Every present moment of awareness opens up new pathways into fresh insights
Loosening the grip of old habits and patterned reactivity, while healing inner wounds

Isn’t this the place you’d want to live, every day, every moment?  Yeah, I think so
Trust me, thinking won’t get you there … indeed, simply let the mind quiet into stillness and peace
Sit with me, won’t you?  Right Here, Right Now.  Sure, why not ... I'd love to
Let us weave ourselves together into the emerging tapestry of this very moment

Words are not required.  Let’s just feel our hearts beating together, as one.  Can you feel that?  Oh Yes!

Day 41: Black and blue

Black and Blue, Disney World, Orlando, FL,  March 2008,

Nikon D40, 35mm focal length equiv. 46mm, Exposure 1/125 sec @ f4.5, ISO 200, no flash, exposure bias -2/3,

post-processed in iPhoto, © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Well, I've pretty much recovered from my running accident in Tel Aviv.  Cuts have healed and bruises are gone.  The human body is truly a thing of wonder.

So let's re-interpret "black and blue" to a different meaning -- in this case, the play of light on the geodesic dome at Disney World.  I just love the "texture" of that dome, and how the light turns all different shades depending on the angle of the reflective surface.

How many surfaces do you expose?  Will you react differently to the same information coming at you, depending perhaps, on your mood?  Or the situation?  Or what you had for breakfast?

Just goes to show, like the light from above, a thing is neither good nor bad, except in how we view it.  That judgment lies entirely within us.  And it is our choice on what color we will see.  If you don't like what you are seeing, try putting a different "face" forward to the world.

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." -- Shakespeare, Hamlet

• Donation:  Australia Red Cross, for clean water, as being raised by this amazing endurance athelete, running from the North Pole to the South Pole in less than a year (which means the equivalent of two marathons per day, every day -- ouch!)
• Exercise:  TBD