Today I sit on the dry, papery soil, sun bleached grass crisply waving, listening to the kurrawongs conversing. Is it an argument between friends I wonder, or the admonishing of a concerned parent? Three kangaroos bound away between the grey trunks, bark crackling, stripping. Clouds skid effortlessly over my head, heading east toward the sea. Is that the sound of a cascading creek or the spirits of the trees farewelling the clouds? The ground absorbs my heartbeat, the breeze my breath. Creature-like, I feel my body soften, soothed by the rhythms of the warm earth.
Yesterday I walked into a shop in Armidale, a stranger to the town. I felt weary and disoriented, out of my comfort zone. Then I met Lee, a woman with whom I made an immediate, amazing connection. Within minutes of meeting we chose to share deeply - to trust each other. It was as though we had known each other for a long time and when I left the shop a short time later, I felt the embrace of her warmth and care. She said, “Fly Corinne, just fly and don’t waste a precious second. Look at your paintings - they are telling you so much”.
Tomorrow… Well I don't know what tomorrow holds. Another chance meeting of hearts, a fleeting glimpse of the sacred in nature or just the crazy run around with my kids on holidays?
I do know this however, that if I look and listen with attention, if I risk being open and unafraid, if I stay fully present, it will be as though I have wings!
So in the words of poet Mary Oliver I ask you, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
What I learned on my desert journey…