spaces

walking to work: an adventure in stumbling upon treasures of precious spaces. my one mile walk (or cruiser bike ride) to work every day provides me the opportunity to gently flow through some of the most interesting spaces of this city.

With the rising of the sun and the inherently rich light, the city reflects gem-like colors. The buildings seem prettier than they are, and the space between them and my front door (and my eyes) is filled with calm wonder.

Around the house: massive construction, homelessness, people looking for work, trash, concrete, wires, cars cars and more cars. However, at a walking pace, at an early enough hour, and in the midst of that gem-like light, there are treasures to be found.

For those who give the right time and energy to their space, the flowers have arrived.

The smell of the air is sweet like nectar, and I enjoy a slow pace to catch what I can.

Two blocks from the house, someone has taken it upon themselves to transform an empty set of lots into Art. I now live right near the Center for Transitional Landscapes.

It looks like a pile of organized dirt at the moment ... but my sense is that this space is bound for intriguing states of being. It started this winter with the first massive storm. Somone had placed hundreds of red wooden stakes in a measured, even grid across the white snow. As the snow melted, the stakes fell: Chaos Began. It was someones inspiration to come and re-organize. It's been a treat to watch this little treasure evolve.

This morning I am thinking of internal spaces, and external spaces. The places we are in, and the places that are in us. I've also been thinking a lot (lately) about reflection (internal and external). The gem-like light that the city reflects ... inspires these thoughts at the perfect time of day for my own mental, gem-like reflection.

In the midst of the city chaos and conrete: i find these gems of spaces so profoundly intriguing and calming. And it occurrs to me that i need to visit these same spaces inside my own states of being.... Finding treasures of curiosity and depth in the midst of going-doing-working-tasking-playing-stressing-worrying-planning-freakingoutingeneral.

Ohyeah.

I think about this a lot when I'm out on my bike ... when I'm OUT, far away or very near, pedaling on dirt, in the sun or the trees or the desert. I LOVE the energy that the external environment exudes, embodies, creates.

It makes me happy.

If the universe and everything that is 'in' it is truly just different manifestations of ONE thing: then we are (and everything else) One and the Same. I look at the environment around me, its spaces and its light, and I think: i am that and that is me: we are different reflections of the same thing: Being. We are one.

It's nice to take the reflection of the external world and turn it inwards. External space helps my internal space. Meditation. That which is around us, reflects that which is in us.