After the fireworks~BLISS

We have the good fortune of being able to live a few blocks from an amazing park that has a carillon. When my head is quiet I can hear it from our front porch. Each spring there is a Carillon festival that ends with a night of the best fireworks the city sees. This year, we walked down with our friends, our dog Bear and lawn chairs. We sat down in a crowd of people and waited for the fireworks to begin. As we waited, I noticed a bit of tension in my body. As I tuned in, I knew it was because I really hate the BANG sound of fireworks. So, about as soon as I remembered this the fireworks began. They were beautiful and they were loud. Really loud.

I realized the best part of fireworks is the quiet in between each one being shot off AND when they are all over. I think this might be a metaphor for life~being present for all the loud and flashy stuff so we can recognize and appreciate the quiet, tender stuff. It's about the contrast, about opposites. Just like Hatha Yoga is the physical practice of opposites, sun & moon, left & right, hard & soft. Just like relationships, after the fireworks we need to know how to sink into the calm.

This all comes in time for Vince and I to celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary. We have been together for 17 years. This math doesn't all add up in my head because I feel like I'm about 25 on the inside (not sure what that says about my maturity level). Not surprisingly, after fifteen years of sharing a a bathroom there often aren't a-lot of surprises. Or, some might say fireworks. It's a skill to stay in and appreciate the calm of the relationship, the grand spaciousness and quiet that can exist with two people who really know each other. It's a skill to not create lots of drama and fireworks, no matter the type. It takes a willingness to be transparent with one another and to be present with one another to keep the quiet, steady flame alive. We all know fireworks don't last and often only come around for the fourth of july. We can live with one another as if the relationship consists of the trunk and roots of a tree and we are each the branches, finding our own way, our own path. This will most definitely take a commitment to live in our hearts, rather than our heads~to live in the moment, where everything is fresh. Our relationships can be just as much of our yoga practice as asanas can be. They can help us stay connected with our bliss. And as Deepak Chopra says "Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real."