Spirit • Values • Learning • Stewardship • Voice
After an exciting expedition climbing in and around the numerous, roaring waterfalls in Watkins Glen State Park in the Finger Lakes Region of New York, August, 2018, a quiet spot emerged, prompting the thoughts that lead to this poem.
Watkins Glen State Park is a worthwhile destination for a morning or afternoon hike in good weather, especially after rainstorms or snow melt.
This video and poem arose, observing the paths of the little bubbles, when the author realized that some of the bubbles had split from the main stream for destinations and routes of their own, at least for a time, until inevitably they would rejoin the stream. We all can observe this and apply it as a metaphor for our own life journeys.
"Flow" captures the essence of the learning and growth work of the Institute the author leads. Without sound, the video can stand alone as a visual meditation.
Flow
In which direction does water flow?
A river goes from high to low!
Calmly traveling little clusters of bubbles...
Is the flow as it seems, without troubles?
Observe: see how all the water moves.
And your life — only predictable grooves?
Always in the stream with everyone?
Or detours here and there for meaning, or fun?
With the greater drift, or another course?
Against the tow, gently — or with force?
For awhile, small eddies quietly swirl, if not forever:
To rebel, to grow, to pause our endeavor.
Others tootle along, perhaps mindless, perhaps at peace.
Perhaps not everyone, though the flow does not cease.
October 7, 2018
One of the many gorges and waterfalls along the path within Watkins Glen State Park, New York
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