The rhythm of the waves on a beach, changing with wind, tide, and the cycles of the moon. The colors of a rainbow always flowing from purple to red and sometimes back again. Trees growing thicker on north facing slopes and water always flowing down hill. The spots on a leopard and the seasons of the year.
The manifest universe is comprised of rhythms, frequencies, that we experience as wave forms and the patterns created when the rhythms and waves combine and interact. Within these everything has its place in the web that is Life.
Some patterns are simple, obvious, and others are complex enough that you loose any sense that there even is a pattern. You know when the movie runs backward, and can feel the beauty of the most artistically complex clouds that are only collections of water dense enough to reflect light. Each tree has a pattern of branches though its leaves may blur it until they fall. The wind may feel random, until you watch it playing in a field of grass.
Being able to perceive the patterns and rhythms allows us to enjoy natural beauty; the curve of a seashell, the seeds in a sunflower, the pattern of pine needles against the sky or the call of a cardinal or lark. They feel harmonious and have a rightness to them.
In the human side of life sometimes you find this sort of beauty, and sometimes it’s missing. We are capable of creating musical harmony and rhythm in which a single note out of place is obvious and slightly painful. We can also create urban landscapes without order or rhythm, that fracture our souls.
Humans are inherently rhythmic and patterned. Resonating with the world around us we appreciate it as beauty and know when something is missing or out of place. While perhaps clearer in nature we can do this also with people and groups.
We intuitively know when a person’s rhythms are broken by grief or anger and either give them space or perhaps offer a word or touch that helps the balance come whole again. We can pick up what has fallen on the floor, or find a space to join the flow of a dance or conversation.
This is done not from the head but from the heart, from feeling and seeing into things until you notice the patterns that are there, the rhythms and flows. Once you see/feel these you know what you have to offer that fits harmoniously, how to show up in a way that enhances the fabric of this piece of Life.
Perhaps its something large, and perhaps its just appreciation, adding attention to support the existing flow. Offering something that clashes with what is already present is unlikely to create a harmonious, or effective, result. The offering is not judged, but we take time to notice if it fits the place and rhythm.
If this is new for you, simply take a breath and center, let your heart feel into what is already present, and you will know the rightness and beauty of what you are considering. If it isn’t a good fit, let the question of “what does fit?” float through your being. Most importantly don’t try to figure it out. If there is a fit you will know it in your being, it will feel right, relaxed, easy.
Keep practicing when you remember to and soon you will find an easier rhythm flowing through your life as well.
(© 9/2014)
