Encountering the Woods of New Zealand


Encountering the Woods of New Zealand

Standing deep in a forest in New Zealand
Looking up at the majestic trees
Encountering the verdant ferns
Listening to the strange call of birds
I had never heard before.
I wondered how I am to take all this in.

Should it be as one who consumes?
As one who tries to absorb and enjoy all I can
Taking as many pictures,
Collecting as many memories as possible.
Perhaps.
I do want to take it all in and record and remember

Should it be as one who notices?
Who simply observes
The height of the trees
The flight of the birds
The green of the undergrowth
The colors of the flowers
The soil and leaves under my feet.
Focus my mind and eyes on simply seeing.
Perhaps.
I do want to notice what is before me, to truly see
And not miss anything.

Should it be as one who is simply present?
Who moves out of the head and into breath?
Who feels the energy of the great forest?
Who stops thinking about the next amazing thing
Or the great sights I’ve seen
Or even what is right before me.
Instead, just be where I am
Breathing. Presence. Love.
Perhaps.
I do want to be fully present to what is
Right before me
And to breath.

Or should it be as one who has
Entered into a Oneness
With what is, here and now.
Who has lost a sense of where I stop
And where this forest around me begins.
Who has lost awareness of time and space
And simply moved into a deeper being
Of the Life that is,
That has always been
That will always be.
Perhaps.
Perhaps.
Perhaps.

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