Christmas Spaces

It's Christmas morning, and I've had open spaces to enjoy this day. After a very busy run-up to the weekend, hosting a dinner party, and then suffering the aftermath of too much wine and exhaustion, I finally feel back on my game today. 

It feels great.

Once the sun was up, I read my poem for the day, which is by Sun Bu-er, a famous woman teacher of Chinese Taoism in the 12th century.  I took this poem in my heart with me to Lakes Park:

I arrived at the park to find they have razed all the Australian Pines that covered the islands dotting the huge lake. There were also other trees around the park that were no more than stumps.  I already had a plan to visit the gardens, so I wasn't too effected by the loss of the trees. But still, even though the trees were invasive, I was sorry to see they are gone.

I walked the gardens, visiting some of the flowers and trying to figure out a way to sit in an inviting tree (didn't work.)  I passed the Peace Pole and entered the area with the Japanese pond. There I sat and meditated for a few minutes.  It was mostly quiet.  It was peaceful.  It was perfect.

Before I left my meditation spot, I noticed for the first time the only lily blooming in the pond:

Walking back I checked out the rose garden, and then walked up and took in the view of the new lake, without the caches of trees.  It seemed strange, but I know it is the way of things.  Change.  It's always with us.

Upon my return home, I wrote my own version of Sun Bu-er's poem:

Mild Christmas morning
Walking the garden path
Sun not yet fully out.
On the rocks by the pond
I sit, grounded, being present.
December, and a rose
blooms here and there,
Irises as well.
I look.  They look back.
"Plain heart seeing into plain heart."

Back home, I entered back into a music space. I've listened to tons of Christmas music this season -- probably more than ever.  I've already played through Amy Grant, James Taylor, Jewel, Trisha Yearwood, Gloria Estefan, The Nutcracker, Chris Botti, CeCe Winans, Aaron Neville, The Nylons, Collin Raye, Nat King Cole, several Christmas playlists on amazon Prime, and more.  

Today I reached for B. B. King.

And for some reason, the blues seemed the perfect expression for today.  Not because I'm blue -- not at all.  But B. B.'s guitar and voice reached me in a new way, a way which I haven't experienced other years. It was celebratory. It was real. It had truth.

And it reflected my new motto: Just Play.  Work hard.  Accept change.  Remember to find those blue and green spaces. Remember to play.  It is what birthed the blues to begin with.

It brought to mind when I asked poet David Kirby to sign my copy of his newest poetry collection, one that begins with a poem about the blues.  I told him that I, too, had visited the Mississippi Blues Trail. He signed the book accordingly, thanking me for being a fan of the "Big Two -- poetry and the blues."

And so that is my personal Christmas celebration today -- the Big Two.  And so much more.

So, so much more.