Journey through the Door …excerpts
…This morning, as I sat alone watching the coming of the new day, I took a deep breath and gazed out at the beauty that surrounded me: there was a soft, lingering fog embracing outstretched cypress arms, so gentle and dreamy... the hazy orange sun pressed fiercely against the thick clouds, parting them slowly, deliberately, so that her full, round body could be seen...a marsh bunny sat quietly staring into the space before him, watching the morning unfold, perhaps in awe of the sparkling dew that danced before his eyes...and a red-shouldered hawk sang out her glorious, heroic song, welcoming the wind...and the new day…
…There are secrets here. I hear them whispering to me in the leaves; I hear them in the wind…
…Being out here in Big Cypress is like dreaming awake: silhouettes of bald cypress and slash pines; their bold, dark bodies standing firm against the water-colored sunsets. This is my favorite time of day- dusk. It is a time of transition, when animals come out of hiding and venture into the wild world of predator and prey, small glowing eyes peering anxiously into the night, waiting…waiting…waiting for their chance to strike…
…I can feel this place. Here is the world outside the cave of shadows… the really, real world of brilliant colors, melting skies, moonlit black waters, and voices in the wind. It is the place of sensual orchids, wetting the lips of unknowing bumble bees as they fall into the deceitful flowers' sticky pollinia, achieving pollination. And it is here, in this place, I have stepped through the door; I have closed my eyes and allowed myself to let go and felt my very being expanding into the wind, the trees, the wildflowers, the earth…into everything that surrounds me…into the space between…and I have felt the oneness of everything, that connectedness that streams through me like blood… …All of my senses are more alive here. My dreams are more vivid; my visions are more lucid. I understand that this is exactly where I am supposed to be at this time in my life…
…This experience is part of my conscious evolution …Today, as I walked down Loop Road, I saw four otters playing in the water. I swear I heard them laughing as they expertly dove and swam, catching unlucky fish in their mouths, then resting along the cypress to devour their boon. I was spying on them, hidden behind coco plum, crouched down in a secret spot. It was such a joy…I wonder if they knew I was there? Maybe it was me who was being spied. Maybe the words they spoke were about this silly, dreamy girl who thought she was being elusive. Maybe they were laughing at me… …Everything is beautiful!
~Val |