don't rush, not yet

beauty breather nine

{beauty breather: a photographic pause for rest}

Join me in a guided visual meditation - an invitation into noticing the wilderness within and without while making space for the fullness of our humanity. These beauty breathers are collections of my nature photographs, part of Notes From the Wilderness.

• I am in Western Canada and experience four distinct and rather extreme seasons. This cycle is integral to my experience. I acknowledge this frame of reference may not be familiar to everyone yet I hope you will still be able to enter in and feel welcome.

• You can return to each beauty breather as often as you desire. Notice what is the same and different in how you experience the words and images.

• If you’re wanting to slow down but find yourself rushing through, try setting a timer (I really love the Insight Timer app.) Go at whatever pace work for you.

• Meet yourself with kindness and gentleness. Let curiosity lead.

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Last spring I wrote a pantoum for lingering in early spring that included the words: don’t rush, not yet. These words have returned to me this year, whispered in my ear countless times throughout the day. There is much to be done. There is so much that needs our attention and action. There is so much mind numbing, dumbfounding chaos around us. Don’t rush, not yet feels rather incongruent with the state of things and yet those words continue to echo within me. So, I’m listening. I choose to watch and linger instead of getting swept up and away by the current of commotion.

Join me as I walk in the fluctuations of early spring, where light snow continues to fall on the slowly thawing ground and frost continues to kiss each remnant from last fall and the winter we’re emerging from.

A spruce cone cast into a bed of moss, waiting for the squirrel who tossed it to return. Imagine the softness of this landing place. Let your eyes examine the overlapping scales that house awaiting seeds.

inhale

exhale

Imagine each frost crystal falling onto this tiny leaf as you breathe deeply. Trace its path with your finger on the palm of your hand.

inhale

exhale

Let your mind wander back to last summer as you focus in on this cluster of berries. From bud to bloom to fruit, marvel at the cycle that produces these dormant berries as they wait to begin it all again.

inhale

exhale

What colour palette do you notice in this scene of a Townsend’s Solitaire perched on a barren branch? This bird has spent the winter here and will be preparing for mating season now. Imagine the slow shift into spring, the muted tones turning shades of green, all in due time.

inhale

exhale

I was enamoured by this delicate branch, with broken strands of crystallized webs dangling like jewelry. Notice the echo of the jeweled light in the forest behind it. Breathe deeply into the suspension of its brilliance.

inhale

exhale

inhale

exhale

everything in its time

don’t rush, not yet.

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