Hit and Miss

My daughters were at their horse riding lesson today. Apparently one of them had a difficult time getting her horse to do what she needed it to do. As a result, she did not have as much fun as usual and felt it was a waste to have gone. As she was showering off in the bathroom I was talking to her. This is something that is easier when she is riled up than if she is not in water. She is very much a water elemental. So the soothing water and the sound of my calm voice tends to bring her back into a happy place inside. By the time our conversation was done she was smiling (something that I could only tell by the sound of her voice, seeing as how the shower curtain was dividing us from each other) and looking forward to having supper together.

Sometimes people don’t listen to their inner needs. Yes, she had to have a shower after horse riding lessons anyway, but she also knows that when she is upset she likes to get in the tub or shower and wash all the upset away. As adults, we can learn a lot from that. For myself, it is going outside and feeling the breeze blow over me. It feels like all the upset energies just blow right off of me. And now that I am living in the city, I appreciate the fact that my apartment is high enough that I not only get the breeze, but I am also able to have an expansive view of the east bank of the river. That expansiveness helps me to collect myself and see things from a broader and higher perspective.

I think that I have always been that way. As a child, I would go out into nature and find a high spot in a tree. My other daughter, also an air elemental like me, does the same thing. It is amazing how we are naturally drawn to what our basic elemental needs are. It is sad that we so often get forced out of that inner honor system by those outside of ourselves who think we are only wasting our time, or their time. I have often said that one can’t confuse inactivity with laziness, or activity with productivity. My father used to get frustrated when I would meditate. He saw that as sitting around and doing nothing. Yet it was one of his friends who taught me how to meditate. The benefits of this simple practice of non-activity escaped him, I suppose. Being on a farm, anything that appeared to be non-active was seen as lazy. I really did not personally enjoy being worked like a horse, so I would get my work done as fast as possible so that I could then go on to do other things, like play or meditate. The trick with meditation was to do it up in a tree where I wasn’t noticed. Now that my own children are honoring their elemental needs, I appreciate the fact that I did not adopt my father’s version of what is productive and what is not. This way my daughters actually might have a chance to develop their inner selves with ease and with grace. Every day I look forward to seeing who they are gradually developing into. I soak up the moment and look forward to the incredible changes that I see. They truly are the most precious beings in my world.

Blessed Be

Trent