The morning broke quiet, washed in a slow steady sunrise, bringing a close to another starry night. I walked across damp, thick green grass to chat with my cottonwood tree as the crows called up the morning light.
It was time for me to have a conversation with Patience. I sometimes think my Lack of Patience as one of my good enemies, but this morning I’m feeling like Patience is a dear friend I’ve been ignoring for some time. It is only with Patience in the stillness of this morning light, that I can come to the cottonwood tree and listen.
I stand with my palm on her rough bark and breathe in the cool morning air even as the summer temperature begins to rise. The grass holds the cool dew of last night and somewhere a mourning dove sings a duet with a crow, their voices stitching together the edges of a silent morning, waking the day.
My cottonwood didn’t speak in words this morning, she spoke in a slow steady hum, a slow vibration that rose through my hand and into my chest even as my own heart began to match her rhythm.
I told her I have been chasing answers, and outcomes, chasing the next green light or looking for the next sacred pivot. I shared with her how I was confusing motion with meaning. Her answer was rooted in a steady hum, no lecture or urgency. Just the steady presence that made my hurry feel loud and unnecessary.
She spoke to me of patience, not as a good enemy, but as the energy of time. As she spoke, I could “see” what she was saying. “Patience is not a chair you sit in while nothing happens,” my tree went on. “Patience is a current you step into. It keeps you in the living moment long enough to see what it might have to offer. It keeps you with yourself long enough to slow down, and it keeps you with others long enough to love them without fixing them.”
A breeze moved through the cottonwood leaves and the whole tree turned to music; a simple sound, like rain before a storm has ideas about where it might fall. I watched how this sacred tree received the wind, how her branches danced with it and didn’t resist. I watched as she held the light moving across her without reaching to hold it.
It was in the breeze on this cool morning, that I realized I am not without Patience, I have simply forgotten to keep company with it. Patience nudged my shoulder and I turned to see a smiling face offer me this practice…One breath to arrive. One breath to listen. One breath to let the listening change me.
I sat down on the cement bench placed beneath her branches and watched as my worries lined up and then wandered off like curious children, busy but harmless. What mattered stayed, quiet and clear.
When the sun cleared the roofline of the neighbor’s house, a small cottonwood leaf floated past, sticking for just a moment in my unbrushed hair. I held it for a moment. It felt light as forgiveness. Then I let it go, watching it find its own short flight to the soft grass below. My morning lesson didn’t shout; it nodded in the seesaw waving of a falling leaf.
I thanked my old friend and promised to return before I forget again. I promised to meet Patience where she lives, here in this slow morning, in the listening, in the faithful work of roots that hold me even when I cannot see.
If you are feeling the rushing busy-ness of your world pushing you to the edge of overwhelm, try anchoring yourself before you fall. Find a tree, a special rock, a place of soft grass near a chair, and take a breath to arrive, another to listen, and another to let the listening change you in that moment.
Blessed be the morning sunrise.
Grab my 3 Book Bundle: You First, Get Off The Shelf, Wisdom and Wit for just $25.
Please enjoy my Free “Meditation for Centering” MP3
Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram
Vicki Dobbs is a bold and adventurous warrior walking a path of heart to manifest spirituality in everyday lives. She opens existential gateways for individuals to face their challenges and embrace these tests as the great teachers that they are.
Her goal is to see everyone walk in beauty and balance every day of their lives empowered by the voice of their own authentic truth.
Through Wisdom Evolution and Sacred Wisdom Workshops, Vicki creates opportunities for others to make deep personal changes through experiential classes, ceremony, sacred art and story. She endeavors to inspire others to create their lives intentionally. Vicki is an Inspirator of everyday awareness, an Instigator of spontaneous stories and a Connoisseur of Creativity. Gratitude and grace sprinkled with humility and humor are the medicine she brings to the world.
As an Elder, Teacher and Entrepreneur, Spiritual Coach, Ordained Minister and Crafter of Sacred Art and Tools, Vicki perceives life’s journey as an ever-upward spiraling ascension of the human spirit leading her to wisdom, wholeness and authenticity.
Her experience includes being trained in the Harner Method of Shamanic Counseling and the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition of Cross Cultural Shamanism. She is a Graduate Teacher and Mentor with the Lynn Andrews Center For Sacred Arts and Training and has been the Administrator and Writers Guide for Writing Spirit, the School.
Vicki is also an Artist of the Spirit Certified Spiritual and Energetic Life Coach, a Graduate Mentor in the AoS program and a founding member of HeatherAsh Amara’s Warrior Goddess Leadership Team and Facilitator of the Warrior Heart Practice.
Connect with Vicki here on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vickildobbsauthor