Through Day-Blooms and Beads of Dew

This post was originally published on July 7, 2015 on River-Bliss.com.

This morning, I didn't start off in an ideal state of mind. I was consumed by thought and longed for circumstances to be different. I'm in the midst of making a major life change, and some days it takes more work than others to pull up the weeds of doubt and cultivate the faith necessary to "advance confidently in the direction of [my] dreams and endeavor to live the life which [I have] imagined," as described by Henry David Thoreau.

I went outside to get my sneakers from the car so I could take a walk. The daisies and spearmint leaves were still covered with dew, and the chicory and daylilies were opening, for it was their day to bloom - their one day to open up and offer their vivid colors to the world, to attract pollinators and play a starring role in the circle of life. It's the day they've been preparing for, the day they for which they were created. Daylilies take full advantage of their day in the sun by remaining in bloom for the duration, whereas delicate chicory flowers close around mid-day when the sun is most intense.

I stopped in my tracks to listen to the advice the day-blooming flowers offered about making the most of a brief existence. They said:

Quick!
Dry your eyes!
There's so much living to do.
Get to it! 
The day is young,
and the day is short.
Wake up and engage it.
Don't waste a moment
Wallowing in longing or regret.
You have this one day to work with 
the material of Here and Now
So make the most of it.

How interesting that the Chinese name for the daylily, xuan-cao, can be translated as "forget-worry herb" or "the plant of forgetfulness" because it was believed to alleviate worries by causing one to forget. When I stopped to connect with the essence of the daylilies, I forgot mine!

Then delicate beads of dew clinging to the leaves of weeds commanded my attention. Their existence as a single bead of dew is even briefer than a chicory bloom. If you sleep in or rush past, you'll miss them and never know they were there in the first place.

For about a half hour, I was transfixed by beads of dew on common weeds and captured 80 thoughtfully composed images in all. It was my morning meditation.

If someone were to walk by and see me gazing intently with my camera pointed at a patch of ordinary, green weeds, they'd probably consider it a bit odd. But if you were to look closer, you'd see the beads of dew clinging to the edges of the leaves and perhaps would find poetry in the shapes, contours, patterns, and reflections.

Spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, explains that making the present moment the focal point of attention produces a shift in consciousness from conditioned to unconditioned awareness. Even something as small as a bead of dew on the edge of a leaf can transport you from an unconscious, habitual state of mind to spacious presence and stillness. It can bring you back to the present moment and free you from the tyranny of the incessantly chattering monkey mind.

"And then you notice a miraculous thing... You see aliveness and beauty around you that you didn't see before. When you are in that aware presence, a deeper intelligence begins to operate in your life." -Eckhart Tolle

That deeper intelligence is where the juice is. It's where life really flows. Tapping into that is like entering an alchemical dimension.

As a Four on the Enneagram, my default programming tends toward romanticized thinking and idealization of what is not available here and now. Transformation for someone like me involves releasing wasteful fantasies and romantic longings and connecting with what is here right now and allowing presence and gratitude to arise. Presence and gratitude are potent elixirs for an alchemical life.

Instead of lamenting over what feels unattainable right now or feeling anxious about the future, through my half hour with the blooming flowers and dewdrops I was able to become conscious of the present moment, connect with what is, and do what I love most (photography). As I see it, that is making the most of the moment at hand and following the advice of the daylilies. It is a first step in the direction of engaging the magic and transformed the quality of my energy.

And it doesn't have to take a half hour. Awareness can arise in an instant when we pause to connect with the life that surrounds us.

The photographs in this blog (except for those attributed to other owners) and in my Flickr photostream are available for purchase as prints or cards through my Etsy shop by selecting a "custom print" in whatever size you prefer and indicating either the name of the print or the blog post and order in which it appears. 

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