34. A Monday meander

Dew-kissed rose.

When there has been a breakthrough, make it a point to relive it again and again.  Just sitting silently, remember it; don’t just remember it, relive it.

Start feeling the same as you felt when the breakthrough happened.  Let the vibrations surround you.  Move into the same space, and allow it to happen so it becomes, by and by, very natural to you.  You become so capable of bringing it back that any moment you can do it.

Many valuable insights happen, but they need follow-up.  Otherwise they become just memories and you will lose contact and will not be able to move into the same world.  By and by, one day you yourself will start disbelieving them.  You may think that it was a dream or a hypnosis or some trick of the mind.  That’s how humanity lost many beautiful experiences.

Everybody comes to beautiful spaces in life.  But we never try to make a path to those beautiful spaces so that they become as natural as eating, taking a bath, or going to sleep, so that whenever you close your eyes you can be in that space.

~ Osho, Everyday Osho, Day 103

Fire in the sky this morning.

I’m getting back into the swing of things here on the ranch after our time away.  Early to bed, early to rise, although that was part of our travels, too.  Little Wookie is a morning kind of guy and if you want to see what really happy looks like, get up early and play with him.  After first breakfast, of course, because nobody likes to play on an empty stomach.

Sunrise colors over the pond.

This morning’s sunrise started with some intense color and then muted itself.  There was some dew on the grass and roses, but the air felt dry.  The usual suspects (birds) were out and about, chattering and calling.  I think there must be a new rooster in the neighborhood because it sounded like there were at least three of them out there crowing with the morning light.  The other possibility is that one of them has increased his repertoire of cock-a-doodle-do sounds.

Almost at the trail where we hiked on Meadow Mountain.

It was lovely to be home for my yoga and meditation practices, if only because my mat and meditation pillow are here and it’s nice to have familiar tools that don’t require some adjustment or getting used to.  The same could be said for the morning light and sounds.  They are familiar.  Not that I don’t appreciate the new, but it’s nice to know where things are and where to look for the sun as it comes up in the morning.

There were fall colors to be found if you looked for them.

A few days ago, I read the Osho quote I started this post with, and it’s been whirling around in my mind ever since.  The Forty Early Mornings practice has led to a few epiphanies along with a general sense of being more present in my life and in my body.  One thing I’ve learned in life is that insights are only good if you live (apply) them.  All too often I have “ah-ha!” moments, and then they fade.  If it’s something the universe is determined to teach me, the insight might come back around, over and over, until I finally take the hint.  Usually it’s best to take the hint as soon as possible if I want to avoid a hard-knock lesson.

On the trail.

I don’t want to lose this sense of being more present.  It was a wonderful gift to have while M and I were with Little Wookie and while we were hiking in the mountains of western Maryland.  It is an amazing thing to close my eyes and do as Osho suggests, bringing myself back to that beautiful space.  I don’t mean that I am grasping onto past experiences at the expense of being in the present now.  It’s difficult to explain.  What I think I mean is that, well, I don’t know.  I can’t explain it.  Maybe it’s easier to explain in terms of bad habits.  Cigarette smoking, for instance.  It was an addiction for me — and usually ends up that way for most — but it started as a bad habit.  One of the things they’ve found with addictions or bad habits is that you develop grooves in your brain from taking that same bad habit pathway over and over and over again.  That’s one of the reasons it’s so difficult to quit, and it’s the main reason it takes time to adjust to quitting.  You have to build new grooves or pathways in your brain.  I would imagine this is what Osho meant about breakthroughs.  You need to experience the good over and over in order to keep from forgetting it, to allow it to become a new state of normal.  In other words, get groovy with those epiphanies.

A red swoosh of color.

The first three pictures in this post were taken at sunrise this morning.  The rest, which you may have noticed from the captions, are from our trip.  We took our first hike on Wednesday morning on part of the Meadow Mountain trail in Garrett County.  The whole trail is 14 miles long and some of it follows the Eastern Continental Divide.  According to the guide we printed out, the trail also offers one of the best views in the county at an overlook located at the southern terminus.  Guess where we went?  To see the view, of course!

Summer meets autumn.

The trail runs through Savage River State Forest.  If there were any hunters out and about, we didn’t notice them.  We did meet three young women on horseback while we were at the overlook.  They will probably show up in a picture or two later on.

I spent a lot of time looking up.

I reckon that’s enough from me on this cloudy Monday.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more from our first hike.  In the meantime, are you joining us for Walktober?  You have until the 28th to get your walk in and leave a link for me so I can include you in the round-up.  The official post where you should leave your link is here, but I’ll find it if you leave it on any of my posts this week.  No worries.  Do whatever is easiest for you.

All kinds of colors.

Thank you for visiting today and joining me on another walk.  Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

I wasn’t the only one looking up. (If you’re wondering about the blazing orange — or hunter’s orange — hat, M and I dress in bright colors when we hike during hunting season. Wait until you see what I was wearing!

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  381)  Hikes through the mind to help me learn and absorb recent insights.  382)  Wise words to ponder.  383)  Autumn’s colors.  They may not be as expansive and colorful as they have been in previous years, but they are there if you look for them.  384)  Early morning light on dewy roses.  385)  Zoom-Zoom, my name for the new mower.  I was out mowing today and it still amazes me how the new mower has cut my mowing time in half.  That gives me time for other good things.

I prefer hot pink over hunter’s orange. lol! This was taken at the overlook where the view was, as promised, amazing. I’ll show you more of it in the next post.  (P.S.  It was windy as heck up there.  Hence, the windblown hair.)