With voluminous snow pouring out of the celestial buckets of ice and air, I'm dreaming of a white Xmas, even as the news and newspapers spin a different reality for others. The dream of a white Xmas for others has turned into a snow parka of nightmares in having to face the reality of road closures, delayed flights or other transportation outs and winter depression.
Trying to navigate the icy sleets of pavements on four wheels of rubber and a ton of metal for those in the game of 9-5pm was like playing unofficial hockey on the freeway and interior rinks with the vehicle being the puck of chance and potential score. For those taking to the airways, train stations or the proverbial "Greyhounds" of escapism, the snow has created plenty of time to pause and wonder. For those taking to their beds, the snow will become a calendered memory for the new year in the "Remember when" column of life's journey.
I like the idea of a white Xmas, a snow filled holiday where the heavens sing with joyous voices and light the sky with thunderous applause of cataclysmic clapping of snow covered angel wings feathered in ice crystals floating aimlessly over the land. Maybe growing up in the rat and roach infested Projects where snow was the crackle of static covering the black and white television screen; the blow of street drugs and genocide; and the blur of eyes bruised beyond seeing, the thought of a white Xmas for me was the fairytale that helped me survive the childhood that was taken.
When I think about the days of snow that have kept me home-bound of late and centered in a space of reflection, I am grateful for the voices of angels and the dusting of feather wings. I can dream beyond what was in my life and see the purity of what is, as the coolness of snow reminds me of what was. I can touch the snow in my yard and make snow angels in a majestic grandness of thankful synergy to the heavens. I can etch the thankfulness of gratitude into the building of a snow personification and feel its solidness of ice as I ponder my own solidity and metaphors on the journey of life.
I can look into the heavens and thank the choir for its bounty of the white stuff and smile as the streak of a sleigh blazes into the snow canvas of Xmas. Yet beyond it all, I'm not looking for Santa to dump odd-shaped presents down my chimney which is why I have a gas fireplace. For me, it is the reality of a white Xmas that brings the greatest present of all. Through the sheerness of snowfall, I am bathed in angels' wings and through the layering of snow coats, I am loved in the purist sense of the Universe. I am the miracle called life.
As I dream of a white Xmas and watch the snow fall, I am reminded that dreams can become realities of a spring, a summer and a fall that mirror the cycle of life and existence in a circle of miracles. Within the joy and heavenly love of humanity and a winter snowfall, I exist and I rise. I am having a white Xmas beyond the dream...........................
Showing posts with label Reflections and reminders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflections and reminders. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Five Days of Snow: Life Lessons
Snow has come a calling to many areas on the planet. It has stretched its icy biceps over the land providing a winter blanket over our lives. For many, the coldness of its embrace has stopped us dead in our tracks and impacted our lives in ways that we will regurgitate both professionally and personally during the big thaw in the spring.
The snow can be measured in depth of coverage and quantified in a financial and emotional emptiness of promises that for this year will remain unfulfilled. There is purity in the blanket of whiteness that bares open our souls and our emotions. Its strength is measured in its impact on our lives. The last five days of snow in 2009 will carry different memories for each of us.
For me, the snow has come at the best time in my life. It has provided me with a blanket of reflection where I can stop and roll the compactness of its ice crystals into thoughts measured only in the depth of the thoughts. The snow has given me pause to stop during my life's journey and redirect my tracks in new directions as I reflect on the meaning of current engagements and ready myself for next year's disengagements in creating new life and new snow tracks.
The snow has inherent power in its ability to shut down the technology that provides us with the basic comforts of life. Years past, the snow and the wind have done just that; shut off the power of our thoughts and forced us to reckon with a life lived in past history where there was no electricity, power, or means to exist except in what we created in our collective connections of humanity.
Five days of snow in years past covered the world in darkness and numbed our minds in survival as its bitter cold left no skin untouched or mental faculty unencumbered. Snow then left its message and its memory. Snow now has also left its message with a different memory of heat, basic life necessities for most, but not for all. For some, the snow is a life stealer and a slow numbing of memories and experiences that have left some with a closer embrace with the elements. At various points in my life, I too was one with the elements of snow and its direct meaning in my survival to exist.
For me yet again, the snow and its impact have provided a pause to value life and treasure the journey. It has given me time to reflect and have a profound respect of my place in the Universe and understand that in my humanity, I am no match for elements and temperatures that are unsustainable for life. I can walk in the snow, throw a snowball, make a snow person, and feel its coldness on an exposed cheek, but I can't sit down in the middle of a snowfall for the day and live.
Five days of snow, yes five days of white powder blanketing the land has given all of humanity a chance to reflect and rethink our existence on the planet. As we begin to unthaw and think about what really matters in life, think about the snow. Maybe next year, we won't need a blanket to redirect us into matters of the heart; maybe all we'll need next year is a shawl of rain and snow flurries as reminders that five days of snow can become ten, twenty, a lifetime of reflection and redirection of actions that must be purposeful in sustaining life as we know it.
The snow can be measured in depth of coverage and quantified in a financial and emotional emptiness of promises that for this year will remain unfulfilled. There is purity in the blanket of whiteness that bares open our souls and our emotions. Its strength is measured in its impact on our lives. The last five days of snow in 2009 will carry different memories for each of us.
For me, the snow has come at the best time in my life. It has provided me with a blanket of reflection where I can stop and roll the compactness of its ice crystals into thoughts measured only in the depth of the thoughts. The snow has given me pause to stop during my life's journey and redirect my tracks in new directions as I reflect on the meaning of current engagements and ready myself for next year's disengagements in creating new life and new snow tracks.
The snow has inherent power in its ability to shut down the technology that provides us with the basic comforts of life. Years past, the snow and the wind have done just that; shut off the power of our thoughts and forced us to reckon with a life lived in past history where there was no electricity, power, or means to exist except in what we created in our collective connections of humanity.
Five days of snow in years past covered the world in darkness and numbed our minds in survival as its bitter cold left no skin untouched or mental faculty unencumbered. Snow then left its message and its memory. Snow now has also left its message with a different memory of heat, basic life necessities for most, but not for all. For some, the snow is a life stealer and a slow numbing of memories and experiences that have left some with a closer embrace with the elements. At various points in my life, I too was one with the elements of snow and its direct meaning in my survival to exist.
For me yet again, the snow and its impact have provided a pause to value life and treasure the journey. It has given me time to reflect and have a profound respect of my place in the Universe and understand that in my humanity, I am no match for elements and temperatures that are unsustainable for life. I can walk in the snow, throw a snowball, make a snow person, and feel its coldness on an exposed cheek, but I can't sit down in the middle of a snowfall for the day and live.
Five days of snow, yes five days of white powder blanketing the land has given all of humanity a chance to reflect and rethink our existence on the planet. As we begin to unthaw and think about what really matters in life, think about the snow. Maybe next year, we won't need a blanket to redirect us into matters of the heart; maybe all we'll need next year is a shawl of rain and snow flurries as reminders that five days of snow can become ten, twenty, a lifetime of reflection and redirection of actions that must be purposeful in sustaining life as we know it.
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