We were walking in the woods alongside the Sudbury River when we happened upon a wooden bench plopped about one foot from the shore in six inches of water. The urge to hop onto the narrow plank and do some balancing yoga poses for the camera was irresistible as well as extremely challenging. It’s one thing to do Warrior III with your foot planted on a mat and gaze trained on the ground, but on a 8-inch wide beam surrounded by water under the stare of a camera-happy husband is a wee bit intimidating.
None of my poses reached a “full expression,” as they say. And even worse, Mr. P cropped the bench out of every shot so that the viewer does not truly understand and appreciate the difficulty of the sub-par bodily positions that I did manage to attain. Still, it’s much better than a shot of me flailing in the water, at least from my biased perspective.
I suppose there’s a life lesson here, about how hard empathy is. None of you can imagine the difficulty of this dancer’s pose, because none of you can see the narrow wooden bench upon which I stand, submerged in the Sudbury River. Circumstances change like the ebb and flow of tidal currents; indeed, life is a never-ending spiral of change. Don’t attach to an outcome, because the outcome will change. Be mindful of this moment, because it will pass, and if you are somewhere else you will miss it. Celebrate the ordinary, accept what you have, remember that every day is a gift (that’s why it’s called the present), and namaste, bitches.
My sub-par Dancer on a Half-Submerged Bench
