When you’re a kid, you lay in the grass and watch the clouds going over, and you literally don’t have a thought in your mind. It’s purely meditation, and we lose that.
Dick van Dyke
It was 08:46 on a Saturday morning. I made my coffee and sat up in bed watching the park opposite as I sipped from the steaming mug. Predictably, every Saturday morning, around this time, the park is buzzing with dog walkers, parents with children on scooters or bikes, dogs barking, vans parking or noisily offloading, neighbours coming and going, passer byes chatting and greeting.
But that morning, was different. There was an energy and I felt discombobulated. The skies were grey and there was no wind. The trees in the park were as still as cold cast iron statues. The park was barren apart from a mysterious person moving on the tree-lined path. The world felt heavy, eerie. It was very unusual.
Admittedly, it was the confusing, no-mans land between Christmas and New Year. Still a holiday, of course, for many but, some had already returned to work for one or two days after Christmas; and so, the past couple of days had returned to the normal cacophony of life outside: traffic, children, people, dogs, wind, rain, sirens. And that unusual day was Saturday, a time of leisure for some, yet the world outside was abandoned, as if life had just…..evaporated .
I had constant ringing in my ears which, I believe, was a spiritual sign from those who have passed, a communication. But why? Why the ringing and the haunting stillness from the world beyond my window?
That morning, I woke up twice and drifted back to sleep before my alarm went off at 07.30. I got up and made my coffee, already feeling heavy but I noticed the stillness in the atmosphere. I wondered, was I still asleep and dreaming? Was I witnessing my real life from an ethereal perspective? Perhaps I will wake up soon to the usual cacophony and visual assaults once more of the park-life sounds on a Saturday morning.
My soul felt heavy, reflecting the energy of the outside world. The lone jogger returned, doing his circuit of the park’s path but despite the faint tarmac tree shadows, he had none and I watched him disappear into a green screen of leaves. What was his purpose in my dream-state? was he a messenger? A metaphor for my life? His movements, rhythmical, continued: Just Keep Going.
I rubbed my ears. The ringing seemed to be getting louder or was I just tuning into it like white noise from a radio? I am spiritual so my thinking was, “is it them upstairs pressing me with a sign? appealing for me to listen?”. Sometimes, I forget to be still and meditative, something I love in life but can avoid at times. Perhaps they were nudging me. I decided to meditate for ten minutes. I closed my eyes and followed the shape of a triangle in my mind, drawing the sides with my breathing in and breathing out and then holding it. Focusing like this clears my mind. The timer rang out and I gently opened my eyes and adjusted my vision, the park-life beyond my window welcomed me back.
The time was now 09.30. The park remained still and apocalyptic as it was ten minutes ago but the jogger never returned. I saw him in my mind, following the path relentlessly, head down, fading out of sight like mist over water. The silence felt different now. No longer oppressive but an enlightening reminder to Just Keep Going, like the jogger, even if the way forward is not clear. I know when I am uncertain, I just have to keep moving and my strength will build. Just Keep Going I said to myself.
Listen to “Eye in the Sky” by Alan Parsons Project, a stunning song with reflective and spiritual lyrics. https://youtu.be/1E-Ca559qto?si=GkECI_fbfzJ28vpO
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