Sunday, February 14, 2010

like a river through trees

sometimes
i get glimpses
of the flow of my life

like a river through trees


fragments

small ripples
all the shades of blue


my mind tries to assemble
the pieces
into something
resembling a whole

but moving
down the road of a day


i leave the vision
fragmented behind me

22 comments:

Delwyn said...

Hi Steven

I don't think we can see the forest for the trees...
Sometimes we can feel that flow... but as to it's direction...

But I guess what we can do is have some impact on the rate of flow by deciding if we float mid stream or out to the edge...

Happy days

Jinksy said...

Fragmented behind you it may be, but reassembled inside your memory for always.

Pauline said...

Such an insightful way to remind us we are so close to our own lives we can't see the whole picture. I wonder how our thoughts and actions would change if we could see our lives in entirety before we lived them...

your photos are wonderful illustrations, as always

Crafty Green Poet said...

sometimes the trees seem to block the view, other times we relaise they're part of the view...

Barry said...

And maybe it's better that way.

Interesting thoughts beautifully expressed Steven.

steven said...

hi delwyn - it's the strangest thing to have an insight into something as large as the flow of your life - looking back and seeing the connections and the waystations that you stopped at or by-passed entirely. then like a cloud it's just as suddenly gone! thanks for your thoughtful comment. steven

steven said...

jinksy you know it's funny but as i get older the memory part isn't always guaranteed either!!!! moments and experiences appear as they wish rather than on demand!!! is that your experience also?! steven

steven said...

pauline that's a great and unnerving question. i don't think i would want to know where i'm going. i like the mystery, i like that each moment within the one present moment is entirely beyond any control. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

crafty green thanks for that insight. steven

steven said...

barry - that's a good build-on to craft green's comment. maybe it is better that way. steven

Golden West said...

And then there are those who swim against the current and others who not only go with the flow, they require a flotation device! I'm generally in the process of keeping my head above water...

ellen abbott said...

I can look downstream and see the flow but upstream is hidden by turns and strainers and rocks under the surface, hindered by rapids. But we navigate and dance with the river trying to read the current as we go.

Dan Gurney said...

Such a thought-provoking post! It reminded me of our transformative moment post which was among the best of the best days in blogland.

Your river image brought to mind what rivers do sometimes, become waterfalls.

The flow of our lives is towards death, towards the reemergence with the whole.

You and I, we are little individual droplets of water falling together in the waterfall of our lives, having been born at the precipice. We think we're individuals, and I guess as we fall we are...in a way. Gravity and wind currents pull on us differently so some of us make the journey more quickly than others, but we're all on our way!

The flow of our lives will get us to the bottom of the waterfall where we will reintegrate with the stream.

One way to enjoy our ride a lot more is to forget our drippiness and to remember we're all in this river/waterfall together.

We are all headed for the same place and made of the same stuff.

Linda Sue said...

Dan's comment! WOW!YUMMY! Often in literature we are likened to water- drops, lakes, river , stream ,sea...and they all end in the ocean- that larger pool of soup. All mingled- water. curious. If we were living on a gas planet what would our metaphors be. I ma sure that you could come up with some beauty!

steven said...

hi golden west! i love your extension of the water analogy. i would have to admit that i do a little of all of those things but dan's comment has so much truth about it that really this response is misleading!! steven

steven said...

hey ellen - the whole idea of going with the flow assumes that there's a direction doesn't it. that there's an ideal route. but you know that there are all sorts of twists, turns, bumps, rapids whatever that show up unexpectedly. what's cool is that those very same bumps and twists and turns all make sense when you look back at them. - they are part of the flow. hmmmm. steven

steven said...

dan - thankyou so much for this. i really appreciate your thoughtfulness and your insight when i'm wrestling through an idea. steven

steven said...

hi linda sue - dan fills in so many of the gaps in my understanding i'm glad you read through what he said 'cause it is really insightful. but then the kindie teacher at my school has a lot of clarity for me also. maybe it's something to do with teaching the wee ones?!!!
i'd love to visit other planets. there's an enormous amount of this planet yet to be seen though and perhaps it would make more sense to take care of that first!!! steven

Shaista said...

Happy New Year of the Tiger, Steven :) oh and Happy Valentine's Day too... many good wishes for more moments of seeing the flow and beauty of life..

Kat_RN said...

Steven, there is something very relaxing about that idea. I live in a forrest and I think I know what you mean. I just need to let it go how it will.
Kat

steven said...

hi shaista - it's great to see you here!!! thankyou for your kind wishes. i really appreciate them!!! i wish you peacefulness. steven

steven said...

hello kat - it's nice to meet you! i spent my afternoon walking through woods a few kilometres south of me. i was entirely alone, listening to the wind in the upper part of the trees. many trees were leaners - you know, hanging off other trees for support - and i listened to them all moaning and rubbing against each other. i really really liked being alone. have a lovely evening in the woods. steven