weekend getaway

We rented a vacation home in the Dells last weekend.  The house was surrounded by tall trees that flanked the backyard.  It was one of those perfect weather days where sitting in the sun was a little too hot and sitting in the shade slightly cool.  I chose to sit on the deck reading Anne Lamott's Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith, which is a good read minus her political rantings.

All of a sudden, the wind picks up enough to catch my attention; the sound of the leaves rustling against each other so loud it muted the sound of the highway traffic not too far away.

I looked up and it seemed to me to be a beckoning of my Universe to pay attention...I looked
up at the leaves, noticing the different layers of leaves and branches.  I thought life is like those
layers.

I was recently reading a blog where a woman described a sunset in Haiti versus one in her
home of California.  In CA, she associated the sun setting with being blinded on the highway driving home from work.  She describes the Haiti sunset as beautiful.  But, isn't it true, it's the same sun?
I, hypothetically, might be able to say it's the same sky, in the same Universe...  It's her perception that is different and she questioned that if her heart was more moved by the sunset in Haiti, where was her real home?

But I think she has it wrong.  The wind and leaves that drew my attention in WI can be found here in IL.  The main difference is that my house is not surrounded by tall trees so it is not the sound of the wind that catches my attention, as much as it is its feel. I  don't have to go somewhere else to find the wind, the sun, the warmth, the coolness- it is all a matter of being more aware, attentive. Though, sometimes we need to go away to remind us of what is always present.


"All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind,
because oneness is the secret of everything.
Swami Vivekananda 
 
"It's difficult to believe in yourself because the idea of self is an artificial construction. You are, in fact, part of the glorious oneness of the universe. Everything beautiful in the world is within
you. "  Russell Brand