Lessons from the bush

Countless waterfalls cascade here

Roaring, bubbling and cicadas.           
There is no peace in the bush, no quiet, no
stillness, all is movement, all is life and growth, death and decay supporting new life. You may imagine you are sitting still, but you are a settling point, a landing pad, and a source of life should you stay for a time. The lilting, roaring, thrust of the water finds its path through, round, under rocks, the trees grow, the ground swells with new life, nourished by the passing of the old. Everywhere you look seedlings have taken root.

The bush is more dense, more vibrant, more alive every time I go there. It has grown further, closer in around the site where my father died. In the magic light of the morning and into the early afternoon I sit with a friend, allowing myself to be hypnotised by its wildness, lulled by the movement, dazzled by the dappled sunshine on the rushing, bubbling, joyous waters, serenaded by the birds, and I remember once again why he loved this bush so very much.

This bush is also woven into the fabric of my soul.

It is a place from my childhood so filled with teeming life and memories I know will always bring me back. Last time I visited it felt sad and mournful, grief stricken and heavy. The hum of life had a different resonance. There has been much water under the bridge since. Forgiveness has visited and cleared spaces for sunshine and light to pass through. A clarity exists now where there was sadness. Gratitude for a journey taken and for the growth it also supported.     

I viewed a fern self-seeded on the side of a rock and wondered how long it could stay in such a position -  to me it seemed life was precarious there. I received a reply that I didn't expect.
"We have chosen to be here - this means we have to get used to the movement."
Reflecting on that I have to admit that's a philosophy many could adopt.

Water flows around, water takes the natural course, water finds a way and when it needs to water can create canyons.
We should flow so. Finding the natural path, wending our way through, over and around obstacles, trips, traps and gullies in our paths. Moving on, allowing, letting go, foward always, flowing into our next phase of life, eternally changing, refreshed and whatever we need to be at any given moment. Adopting the formless attribute of water, becoming the shape of that which we find ourselves in. Embracing a new vessel, a new form and opening to possibilities, cascading over boundaries and searching for pastures new.

I'm grateful for the beauty and the simple lessons that such moments in nature bring.
(c)Deb Wharfe 2012