On bird wings

Spring is in full force.  All the trees now wearing their new leaves. As I worked in my garden, I found myself watching a pair of mockingbirds in courtship.  How their wings fluttered a certain way as they moved from tree to tree in some sort of dance.  I had not realized what a vast array of songs they could sing.  It was like listening to an old AM radio station. A throw back to when music was not played by any specific genre. Such an unexpected delight.

My corona anniversary date came and went without much ado or time for reflection.  What I did notice was that this past year has required an insane amount of flexibility.  Some days and months going from 100 mph to a complete stop and then back to 100 mph.  It has felt like whiplash to me.  My inbox became overflowed with appointment requests from folks who now feel safe after they have gotten their vaccines. I can honestly say, “I did not see this coming.”

So, as I revisited each client’s chart, I found it had been almost one year to the date since our last session. What a homecoming March turned out to be. A welcome back of so many to the bodywork table. It has also made me realize how different each of our pandemic fatigue looks like. How we all grieve for different things that we have lost over this past year.  How there are just so many days when it is hard to find any traction to get things done and some days you just have to root yourself down.

Here is a poem I return to in times when I just need to stop for a moment and take notice. It has truly helped me thru things I have not been able to process this year.  It is my hope it will offer something similar for you.

Birdwings
Your grief for what you’ve lost lifts a mirror
up to where you’re bravely working.
Expecting the worst, you look, and instead,
here’s the joyful face you’ve been longing to see.
Your hand opens and closes, and opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open
you would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence
is in every small contraction and expansion,
the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated
as bird wings.
–Rumi

As always, in gratitude to you for taking a moment to check in with me.

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Time Flies

Happy Birthday ABTC!

You guessed it!  Austin Body Therapeutic Center has officially turned 21!  And we did a little table for two outdoor dinner celebration.  My first time to a restaurant since the pandemic.

Cheers!

The first signs of autumn have always inspired me.  Taking a glance back in time, fall has brought me a variety of new beginnings.  One of those happened twenty-one years ago.  And if I am honest, I just remember it being subtle and sweet.  I bought my first new home with the purpose of tucking a brand-new bodywork practice inside.  

I picked it for being the last house on a dead-end street.  Literally where the sidewalk ends.  Its entrance a covered courtyard with its only view from the massage room.  It felt like coming into a little hideaway from the city.  And though Austin has grown in leaps and bounds around us, this space still feels pretty much the same.  A safe haven. I know at the time, I didn’t even realize how important a safe haven really was.  How in order for a body to truly heal it has to feel safe.  To be truly present with another is the best gift you can offer.

So thank you all for the gift of having a practice that is still going strong because of you.