I wonder how the river feels as she meets the sea or what the earth feels as she receives the first long-awaited raindrops.
Here in Ireland, water is abundant. On a sunny day, the air sparkles with millions of miniature rainbows. The ground is saturated and the ocean surrounds us.
In the misty air, my intrepid native guide and I walk down the hill to where the river meets the sea. The sun is trying to shine. The usual stiff sea breezes are softer today. Roan is happily run-skipping down the dirt track. Wildflowers and grasses squeeze through every crack on the rocky path and hillside. The sheep bleat and baby lambs dance on the far side of the rushing river. Abundance is everywhere!
We settle into a nice spot at the river mouth. Surrounded by smooth shiny stones, we throw every shape and size into the water. The biggest ones make a nice satisfying splash—the small ones plop. The rush of the river meeting the sea waves makes the flat stones impossible to skip.
The combination of river, wind, sun, clouds, mist, and rocky earth is a powerful force. The elemental energy overtakes us as we throw big kerplunking stones into the turbulent water. Ocean waves splash onto the rocky shore.
We throw sticks and leaves into the choppy water, feeling them float and tumble downstream. They get caught in eddies. Some can’t weather the journey and are swept under. I’m ready to grab Roan at any moment, afraid the untamed forces of nature will take him out to sea.
I’m blinded as the wind whips hair into my eyes. Old residual fear blows out of me into the wild wind. Together, we laugh and shriek like wild banshees!
The river merging with the sea is a common metaphor for self-realization.
Feeling untamed and unrestricted freedom is exhilarating, even courageous — very different from a focused mind that recalibrates the nervous system into a peaceful meditative Zen state.
Judgment and duality lose their power when radical acceptance and appreciation are practiced. Good bad, right wrong become irrelevant and meaningless. The inevitable outcome is to experience sacred intimacy with all that exists.
Being intimate with many different aspects of Life; like exploring nature from the untamable gaze of my three-year-old grandson or a rushing river’s intimate wild merging with the sea are awesome teachers.
Intimacy begins inside. When past wounds disrupt self-trust, all connections feel dangerous and to merge even more so.
In our upcoming Austrian Retreat, we will explore deep body and soul intimacy without a partner, in the comfort of your interiority, with expert guidance, and community support.
Trust and live into the wisdom of your body and soul in the Austrian countryside, July 17-21, 2024.
For more information, click here
