“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ”

~John Quincy Adams

Full Moons are times of heightened energy. I have begun taking a few favorite rocks in my bag and balancing them in various locations during full moons.  Riding around at night has become a nice way to clear my mind while tapping into my creative flow. With the creek, balancing is generally a day activity, but with the brilliant glow of full moons, midnight has also become a time to balance and experiment with night photography.

My astrological sign shares a close intimacy with the moon. As a double cancer, it is my governing body, supposedly affecting my emotional states and stirring them more than I notice.  I have always reached a calm contentment whenever I observe the moon. Silent strength. It deeply inspires my being and the connection I feel with my surroundings. The primal and ancient relationship we all share with the moon underpins our collective unconscious in a way. ALL of our ancestors and nearly all life on earth have witnessed its phases as if a mirror of the ebb and flow of life itself. There is no reason the moon should not have my appreciation and reverence. So these photos are this month’s thanksgiving for the moon’s presence and support. I hope to portray our collective appreciation through this balance. The night photography is rather therapeutic as well. :)

“What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life?…If you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living, that is to go on doing things you don’t like doing…which is stupid! Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life that is spent in a miserable way. And after all, if you do really like doing what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what it is, you can eventually…become a master of IT…and then you’ll be able to get a good fee for whatever it is…somebody is interested in everything. Anything You can be interested in, you can find others who are…So it’s an important question: What do I desire?”

“To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art — that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.”

~ Charles Baudelaire

Going out to the creek lately has been very peaceful and quiet compared to the warm busy days of summer. With Fall underway, the colors are in full swing here in Boulder.  Temperatures have also dropped considerably along with increased rain this week.  These conditions have an intimate effect on the balance experience, and just being outside in general. Normally most people like to stay inside in these conditions, but I find the atmosphere quite romantic. This sense of romance really came through yesterday in my balance session. This balance felt right through the entire build. very little hesitation, then, before I thought, it stood elegantly over a slow moving pool in the creek.  Humidity was high and colors were full after the fresh rain.  And the reflecting balance and turning trees added the final touch of comprehensive perfection to the experience.

“In meditation, you see, there is no idea of time.. but when we practice learning things, time is of the essence, ‘let’s do it as fast as possible’, ‘let’s find a faster way of learning how to do this’.  In meditation, a faster way of learning is of no importance whatsoever, because it focuses always on the present.”

~Alan Watts

Based on my own experience learning to balance, the process is very intimate, extremely careful, contemplative, EVERYTHING. Every experience while out balancing, and even not, ~IS~ the learning process.  A beginner’s attempt to go straight for making the most precarious balances will often be met with collapse, which is simply another lesson. Rarely have I seen a beginner even consider advanced balances on their own, let alone be able to realize them.. I’ve noticed that rocks have a way of guarding their secrets until experience catches up. Each experience a necessary foundation for what follows. Obviously learning to meditate or do anything will be a unique experience for everyone. But the point here is that this art form is everything to do with the present moment, and therefore has a way of suspending time and neutralizing any hurried motives.

With workshops I will usually recommend a series of workshops where the student has multiple experiences and multiple opportunities to learn. There is always so much more going on in and around the rocks, perhaps everywhere.. With more time and experience I think it is possible for most to pick up on the heightened frequency of seemingly magical encounters. various enchantments. romance.

There is a voice that doesn’t use words.
Listen.
~ Rumi ~

Today I drove into Rocky Mountain National Park for a day of retreat, re-balance, observation, and reflection.  This weekend was anticipated to be near-peak for many Aspen groves as they underwent their brilliant color changes for Fall.  I had no expectations. No particular balance session in mind. Just me, my pack, the mountain and a few random hikers along the 12 mile round-trip hike.  My intended destination was an alpine lake just below the timberline. The hike was incredibly strenuous as I was slightly out of shape for such a long, constant uphill trek.  After a few hours, I finally reached my intended destination. Out of breath, exhausted, sweating; however, the views of the lake and peaks, were well worth the struggle. The silence was therapeutic as I sat next to the water in meditative observation.  Listening. Being. Occasionally imagining what it might be like to live in such a place. Peace of mind flooded my senses. City life became a distant memory as I quietly traded thoughts with the mountain, reflecting for quite some time. I ended the session by balancing a large rock as a gesture of appreciation for the experience.  The challenge then became leaving the lake to begin the 2 hour hike back down to the trailhead. Daylight fading. Unsure if darkness would overtake my descent.  Unsure if various predators would spot me alone in the wilderness.  Perhaps it would be better to think in terms of oneness as opposed to separate and alone.

There was a strange enchantment that befriended my descent, as if countless spirits watched me shuffle quickly down the mountain. Unavoidably delayed by Fall colors, views of aspen groves, rocks to balance, and twilight brilliance, I could sense darkness closing in faster than I could walk.  I had not seen another hiker in hours and wondered how much farther the descent might be. The solitude and growing darkness made for quite a primal experience. Adrenaline was high as I looked out for possible mountain lions scoping me for dinner. Not to mention bear territory.  Eventually I caught up with other hikers in the last half mile of the descent, relieved to feel somewhat safe again… I felt strange upon my return to the familiarity of cars and roads, but also quite relaxed and fulfilled with the day’s experience.