Like a Warm Sweater.

A slow, steady walk on the sunny, sacred ground of a Costa Rican mountain town called Alajuela.

My movement is nearly silent, like a deer blending into the quiet of the night.

Every step intentional, moving with the earth, alongside her, in tune with her presence resting on my back like a warm sweater.

My arms are heavy and relaxed.

Fluid, like water.

A peaceful walk on this peaceful, quiet day.

Never in a hurry.

Never spending wasted energy on stress or schedule, leaving me depleted, empty.

Never feeling my shoulders creep up out of apprehension or defense, a shield I hold up when I feel unsafe, when I don't know what's coming.

Here I move effortlessly, I glide on ice. 

My feet brush along the walkway like a paintbrush of silk to a blank canvas.

My breath is deep, full.

It  fills me up like a channel of love, warming my chest and then releasing again into my belly.

A full day’s breath.

A full day’s prayer, like a finished thought, uninterrupted by noise and chatter: the usual backdrop of Nashville traffic, racing thoughts, fears of letting people down, letting myself down, fears of failing or forgetting something important.

Heat like summer touches my skin and I smile.

Gazing lovingly to my right, just beneath the wings of the nearby Mother Palm Tree, I see the city of San Jose, a magnetic sea of tiny dots, like a speckled quilt of various colors and stories all blended together.

I don’t remember the last time I was this relaxed.

I don’t remember the last time I slowed down, like this.

Completely unattached to plans.

Completely unattached to people.

Temporarily released from that dazed look I give when I don’t know quite what to say because I don’t know quite what I want.
Out of tune with my Center, my inner Truth.

I am unattached and present.

Unattached and alive and free: walking, moving, breathing with the earth as she warms my back and carries my weight on her lap.