Balancing Act

I often make a point of going outside to a quiet spot in or on the edge of the woods and listening. I imagine my feet sinking into the Earth (which is tough when wearing big snow boots) and roots growing down from my soles into the core. I stay focused on my breath which helps to transport "my" energy (which isn't really mine at all) and at some point I can feel my feet (and the space beneath my feet) pulsing, as if there are indeed lines connecting me to the giant sphere we're riding. A unique and utterly pleasant warmth flows up through me and on this night, one of the coldest of the year, shifts my attention to the clear black sky flooded with stars. Ironically, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, the Earth is now at its closest point to the sun. In sixth months it will only be slightly further away, but it will have tilted in the opposite direction causing our entire environment to completely change. A foot of snow and freezing winds will be replaced by intense heat and abundant growth. Granted we humans wouldn't have evolved if not for this cycle, is there a more spectacular miracle than the balancing act pulled off by our planet in relation to perhaps our greatest source of power?

So as I stand and listen from the center of the world (having bought into the philosophy that the entire Universe exists within our own heart), the Earth talks to me. Sometimes the trees creek and crack, occasionally the wind howls, but usually the whole place just breathes. By breathing with it, we merge into one, at which point the Universe becomes as vast as one's imagination. At these moments I recognize myself as a satellite--a tiny planet spinning on an axis supported by the larger planet--and know that the only thing there is for me to do is to stay attuned and work on my own sense of balance.