Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Be singing

There is a Rilke quote which has been haunting me for the last few months.
"Spirit wants only that there be singing, as to who does it, in that He has only a passing interest".
I went to silence last year because I wanted to hear the silent stirrings of my new born solo self and find out what I wanted.  And I have, to a degree. But I've not been singing my solo sweet ruminating song out loud for the world, and so also then for me, to hear.  I have this one life, this one set of skills, gifts, accidents of the chemical interaction of genes and experience.  Time to sing it out loud again, so I can hear it, learn more about who I am from what comes out of me.

It's been a year. I've crept through my "deferred maintenance  of body, soul, home and farm".  The farm was hit by the tail end of twin tornadoes, odd spots of trees with their "undies in a bundle". The big hickories below the barn, snapped in half, trees uprooted in the front yard and almost all the big oaks on the rock outcropping taken down.  The Gil tree was crushed by two of them; half of it broke, half bent.  By some miracle, with "splints" and other stabilizers, it seems to still live.  And the house untouched.  Neighbors emerged with tremendous help, and the beat went on.
I saw a wolf,
a powerful experience.  The dogs were barking. I saw the rump running down hill; it had been fairly close to the house. It stopped and turned sideways, looking up at the dogs, the house, me.  It scratched, marked the ground, 6, 7, 8 times.  "Set boundaries" it told me, mark your territory, stand up for what you need and what you will not tolerate, do not give away who you are for the comfort of   dogs.
The Universe stills sings for me, even in my silence.  My chickens, goats, dogs still have much to teach me.  I watch the sunrise, remember my dreams, wonder if I should be more engaged with the outside world, and am open.  I don't know,   what's next, what's right, what I "should" or not do.  I trust my gut, who do I want to spend time with, who not? I speak what I know which seems less and less.  Yet there is this sense that my foundation is becoming firmer, that some silt of who I am is settling down and forming something I will be able to stand on.
I have no idea if anyone is reading this blog anymore; I don't need to know.  But if you are, know that you are the ear of the Universe for me. You are whom I speak to as I attempt to "be singing".