Time and space

Early morning at the labyrinth.  I find it anchoring to walk my prayers.  And while the last few weeks have been a flurry of intensity and unfolding around me, I've been able to stay grounded... clear in who I am, what I do, and where it is appropriate for me to get involved.  

As always, this is a learning experience... some of this I have travelled before... some I have not.  Like the path of the labyrinth, what seems to be familiar is not the same as doing exactly the same thing over again.  Even though I retrace my steps coming out of the labyrinth, I'm headed a different direction than the last time I was in that spot.  As I walk back and forth I realize that there's always a movement toward the center... not of the labyrinth, but of me.  It reminds me not to go too far in one direction, with my body or my thoughts, because my being is in the center... the center is home.  It reminds me not to get overly involved in someone else's reality... that their reality often doesn't have anything to do with me.  I can choose to support, but I can't live anyone else's life, or make choices for them based on what *I* think is right... and in truth, I don't want to.  I have my hands full with my own life.

The labyrinth reminds me how important it is to be fully present at the center of my own life.  How important it is to meet myself where I am, to flow with making and remaking decisions and commitments in each moment, and to make sure that I take care of myself so that I can be present for others.  

I noticed how much this labyrinthine pattern is present in our lives... as we wind our way in, checking in with ourselves, meeting our needs, and being self-referential.  And then, we spiral back out... to carry our gifts to the world as best we can express them at any moment.  That repetition becomes a cycle, a homeostasis, where we are constantly in motion.