standing on the edge

This is what it will be.

The sun blasts off the ocean and into the room. When I can see nothing but ocean before me, up on high, I breathe deep with mindfulness. Everything is temporary. As in life, every wave we see, every transformation of the sea, is different from the last.

Sometimes it is iconic: a sailboat has ventured out way beyond the bridge on a trip to somewhere. The sails are full and power the boat across the seascape. Other times a tanker disappears over the horizon. I like to watch it, like a sun falling in the evening, how it seems like a big red harvest moon.

As in life, the movement never ends.

When dawn comes, the ocean looks like magic, with blue and purple tones. When the wind is down, it is like a lake without bounds. No matter how it looks, the sounds are rhythmic as with a heartbeat. Now the wind buffets against the window. Now it is calm. No matter, the heart beats on.

As in life. The cliff is precarious. We don't know what the next moment will bring, or the next season, or the one after that. All we can do to escape is to send images afloat towards the horizon and watch them curl over the Earth. And the images, the thoughts and memories we keep are the precious ones that define us.

At least, that is a goal. The buddha is before me. His stature is calm and mindful, and he invites me into his world - to meld his with my own. This is the practice I keep.