Reflections Ground Us

Today I hiked Pratt's Brook Conservation Land here in Acton and came across this lone cairn. Whenever I see cairns I feel reassured that I'm going the right way and that things are as they should be. 

But things are not always as they should be. At the Ice House Pond, I look at the reflection of things to try and gain new perspective and understanding.

The trees are mostly bare now. Their branches tremble in the wind and their leaves are crumpled at their feet, but despite their nakedness and vulnerability, they continue to feed from the Earth and stand tall and bless us with life-giving oxygen.

Sometimes our lives are distorted and we feel helpless, turned upside down. Sitting with the distortion, I reflect on life. I sit with a straight spine, my body weight resting on my sitz bones, rooting me to the ground. I inhale deeply and then slowly release a breath of loving-kindness, in a long embrace to all beings in the world who grieve and who suffer from great loss.