Yet another week of emotional roller-coaster rides!  I attempted, in vain, to write several blog entries but felt unable to focus.  Nothing was flowing. Ups and downs, highs and lows lead me to question and to re-examine essential aspects of my foundational beliefs and outlook on life. Then two photos surfaced that I took last summer. I had forgotten about them and 'by accident' came across them this afternoon, when I returned from a church service that focused on the 'foundation shock.'

It must be the 'grace of serendipity' manifesting, as an acquaintance wrote to me in another context earlier this week. You may prefer to call it synchronicity.

The photos startled and mesmerized me the moment I saw them this afternoon on the large monitor that serves as my computer screen. Both of them carry the same power for me, a power that gripped me suddenly and vehemently. 

I could sense a connection from the images to the experiences of my week. I just knew they could provide me with insights into my recent roller-coaster ride that had escaped me thus far. I also knew it could only happen if I stopped analyzing and gave myself over to the photos.

So I decided to sit down in prayerful reflection. I set the intention to see and listen through my inner eyes and ears, my heart through which I hear my soul speak.  For me, the Peace prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, usually opens my heart, as it did this time. I kept focused on my breathing until I felt fully immersed into the image. It reminded me of Michael Ende's wonderful character Momo (in the book named after her), who spends a great deal of her time 'simply listening to the great silence around her.'

In this silence, my ears are filling with the sound of the water washing over and through the rock, steadily wearing it down in ever persistent motion. I hear the melodies as the water shapes the rock according to its own movement, whimsies, flow and strength. The whispering water entices new growth and beauty by nourishing some plants, while smothering others, forcing them to die. The lullabies are soothing, the funeral marches eerie, yet both perfect and strangely comforting. 

I feel the dances of the plants, the fish and stones, the birds and the wind, all participating along the way, adding to and altering the course the water takes and, by extension, reshaping the rock. What joy and freedom emerge from the power of the water, so very still in this photo. 

I keep listening and breathing, doing my best to keep my mind silent. I feel the rock, a hard mass deeply grounded into the earth.  It breathes life, seemingly in spite of its solidity. Its confident and unshakable nature encourage trees and flowers to plant their roots into the finest crevices that nurture life. 

Listen and hear! The rock invites much more. It exudes an openness to change and flexibility. Its very porousness allows the water's waves to reshape its exterior and even to hollow it out. Once a singular entity, it morphs into a series of forms and contours, giving rise to   reflective pools of water and small oases for birds.

The rock's unwavering presence captivates and entrances me. I wait and breathe and focus on the silence.  Finally, the rock reveals its secret to me. Regardless of the workings of the water, the 'rock is solid' in its inner knowing that its essence always endures. Its shape may be altered completely. Chunks may break off or rough edges may smooth over. None of that matters. The rock does not care about its appearance. 

After all, each change exposes more of the rock's essence as layer upon layer, crevice upon crevice find themselves exposed and in clear view. Whatever it no longer needs, the rock lets go. It relinquishes it to the water, which washes it away while feeding plants with the minerals released in the process. 

The quiet authenticity and strength of the rock combines with the freedom and joyful creative spirit of the water. What a perfect symbiotic relationship!

I stay focused on my breathing and express my gratitude to the water and the rock. I deeply appreciate their willingness to share their experiences with me. The images have carved themselves into my heart and soul now, just as the water has carved its way through the rock to reveal its brilliant truth. 

It took me all afternoon to digest the insights I gained. Because of the intensity of the experience, I feel compelled to share it with you. I finally comprehend on a much deeper cellular level than before that the emotional roller-coaster serves the same amazing and magic purpose the water does in my photos, and, most importantly, in life. Perhaps I am providing my personal example of the importance of integration I was writing about in an earlier blog entry.
Without life's happenings and my emotional reactions to it (the water, as I understood it), I wouldn't have the opportunity to explore, to find, to claim and to expose my true essence!  If I offer no resistance (just the way the rock presented itself to me), I allow for life's events to demonstrate to me that I can choose to let go and be open to reshaping. When I relinquish my need to control and refocus my attention from the outer to the inner, then this amazing symbiotic relationship of co-creation unfolds.

I realize how essential these emotional experiences remain to serve as a shock to my foundation. Only through these encounters can I see what beliefs are outdated and no longer serve me. What a perfect moment to examine my core and see how it might  weather possible life-changing alterations!

I am so very curious to hear what questions and reflections this photo ignites in you.  I invite you to sit and listen in silence to the image. As Michael Ende suggests, "Those who still think listening isn't an art should see if they can do it half as well."