Sunday, May 1, 2011

down the levels

streamingwater john george naish

tumbling through the levels;
the falling
a dissonant counterpoint to my anticipation

thinking all my life
that i would rise to my place
and not fall

until i came to realize
that tumbling
isn't falling
but letting go

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...that tumbling isn't falling but letting go"

I like this. Sometimes I feel as though I am free falling through life. Perhaps I am just letting go:)

Elisabeth said...

Lovely words here, Steven. I too like the idea of tumbling not as falling, merely letting go.

Radcliffe said...

This is lovely; I love the analogy of tumbling, somehow I always picture it happening in slow motion, rather like a coin tumbling through water when dropped into a fountain.

Ruth said...

Very well felt and said, Steven. I immediately thought of the movie we watched last night, "Black Swan." I hoped that she had let go of herself, and not just fallen.

Beautiful to contemplate this today. Thank you.

hope said...

It's unanimous...tumbling as letting go has such a sense of peace to it.

Now if I could only remember when to tumble. ;)

Reya Mellicker said...

Perfection!

The waterfall is part of the iconography of the Empress. Today is her day!

Oh man I love being on a wavelength with you, Steven!

Unknown said...

Sometimes we are letting go of somethings because we change our focus and are drawn in other directions. The energy and idealism we carry around in our youth mellows with age. As water tumbles it cleans itself so it becomes fresh and new. Niagara Tumbles.... let's rename it. One day because of it's limestone base, it will collapse and become a series of tumbling rapids anyway. This is a refreshing post. Thanks, Steven.

ellen abbott said...

'tumbling isn't falling but letting go' oh I love that.

Linda Sue said...

What Ellen said-
Seems that as I get older and more resistant - letting go and tumbling is not something I care to do, I bruise more easily now.Seem to hang of more tightly to that which should welcome release.

Jo said...

Beautiful, shining, luminous image, to go along with your words of the same description.

You are so honest to share the feelings and perceptions you experience. Thank you.

Bee said...

Yesterday I read an interesting piece by Diane Ackerman, in which she discussed how she and her husband adjusted their relationship and expectations after he suffered from a severe stroke. She described something similar to your words: "tumbling isn't falling but letting go."

Always some thought-provoking stuff to be found here.

I hope you will experience May in a bluebell wood one of these days. Truly magical.

OceanoAzul.Sonhos said...

steven, many times, throughout life, we feel this drop, smooth as water on the stairs, fresh and light.
oa.s

steven said...

lilith - i'd go with letting things happen as the mirror image of letting things go. it's not quite the lackadaisical state the words might suggest!! steven

steven said...

elisabeth - it returns the notion of power to the state of being available to the future. steven

steven said...

radcliffe - what an excellent visual! it approaches timelessness. steven

steven said...

ruth - the act of falling as i was feeling and expressing it has so much to do with releasing oneself from commitment to ideals or extrinsic goals. it's more about moving closer to what's necessary and that's driven by the future reaching backwards into the now of the moment. steven

steven said...

hope - whenever and wherever. it doesn't mean being less of a person, a slacker in your work, less present. it actually takes work to be more present. steven

steven said...

reya today it was fehu's turn to appear. we share the wealth you and i!!! steven

steven said...

linda!!! niagara tumbles - i would so love to see that raging torrent but it will take more time than this body will allow and so be it. steven

steven said...

ellen - stumbling, tumbling, falling, drifting - letting go - just as if a raft were to carry you down the river without any paddles on board. you'd experience the experience. likely survive. be wiser for it. have a knowing unlike any knowing before. steven

steven said...

linda sue as with everything you see it so clearly. the work of letting go is even more difficult and yet more rewarding than the holding on. steven

steven said...

jo thankyou very much. it's taken a while to get to this place and there's a journey still in front of me but the transparency i hope for is slowly emerging. the painting was a real inspiration. steven

steven said...

bee thankyou very much for the bluebell wood wish. it's likely funny to be reading the writing of an almost fifty four year old person whose wishes are so simple but they are what they are!! steven

steven said...

oa.s, i've felt it differently at different stages of my life. now as a pre-mature adult i feel it as an opportunity to review and release. steven

Valerianna said...

yes, I like that... tumbling is letting go....

steven said...

hi valerianna - it's a little learning. steven