Than smoke and mist who better could appraise
The kindred spirit of an inner haze? -- Robert Frost (1874-1963) "A Cabin in the Clearing"
While doing yoga stretches last night, I became entranced by the slow, fingering smoke slipping gently from the tip of the lavender incense I was burning. Something about it stopped my world and made me contemplate the careful ease with which it penetrated the air. The ease of its purpose, ever so slowly.
I wonder at times how life would be different if I allowed myself to slow down to a gentle, slipping motion in life. Is it possible that my impact could be greater than the pace with which I do things? The fragrance permeated the room completely, drenching my nostrils and lungs with its smell and taste.
Wouldn't we, couldn't we have the same effect if we embraced our purpose and completed it with the ease and certainty found by other objects/creatures in nature?
I am reminded of a quote I have kept on my bathroom mirror since my illness (now almost five years ago - identified week of 9/11/01). I studied the quote for some time and it took me back to the smoke of the night before.
If a butterfly flutters its wings on one side of the world, it can eventually cause a hurricane on the other side. --Edward Lorenz, Chaos Theory
"The flapping of a single butterfly's wing today produces a tiny change in the state of the atmosphere. Over a period of time, what the atmosphere actually does diverges from what it would have done." (Ian Stewart, Does God Play Dice? The Mathematics of Chaos, pg. 141)
If we listen to the inner haze, we know that there is more power in peace and the slow gentle movements of life than in violence and aggression so easily achieved by grabbing an arm or launching a missile.
