October New Moon

I have been gardening for more than two decades. I love to watch the miracle of growing things.  The impossible mystery of food and flowers arising from not much of anything - a seed, some soil, water and sunlight. Even after all of this time though, I feel like I am embarking on a big experiment. Will the peas flower before the first frost? Where is the best place for the dahlias?  What is too much water and what is too little? Gardening is all a big experiment with not many certainties except the force of life and the truth that things arise and pass due to the conditions around them. Gardening always includes some failures and some successes. In this same way, life is a big experiment. Collectively, we have never been in these circumstances before. You, and your body in particular, have never before been as old as you are now. You might consider that there are no mistakes in life, just lessons. We learn by doing and we are doing something new everyday as everyday is new. The dahlia needs more sun and the tomato needs less water. Maybe you need more inspiration and less news. Maybe you need to apologize to a loved one or you need to set a firm boundary to protect yourself or a child. Maybe you need to protest for change in the streets or work on a political campaign. This is one of the things that I mean when I remind you and me that yoga or meditation is a practice and not a "perfect".  It is not just yoga and meditation that is a practice. Life is a practice. It is an experiment and a grand adventure that calls us to navigate where we haven't been before.  Let yourself make your life an experiment. Then see what happens next.