This week I’ve been thinking about and engaging in small journeys. Starting Monday, I did a 4-day meditation workshop — just an hour a day, but at 7:30AM. In the morning. Anyone who knows me even a little is aware of the magnitude of that feat.
I’ve meditated off and on for decades, and am using the occasion of this pandemic and social uprising time to restart a daily practice. Doing something daily is a commitment, and starting small is everyone’s advice. Small can be powerful, especially when it’s repeated over time.
I never agreed with the idea that familiarity breeds contempt—I mean, who thinks that’s true? Hmmphf. On the contrary, familiarity for me breeds concentration, security, and the leisure to be creative with what one knows well.
Which gets me to this post I wrote in 2016. I was extolling the virtues of non-gob-smacking nature, which we can find around us in our own neighborhoods. I still believe it, and appreciate the capacity to relax into the familiar and down-home pleasures of other people’s summer gardens, local parks, nature trails that are open, and water of any kind.
I hope you are able to get out into small and nearby nature. If you have, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
-catherine
