A horse in a field. The hedges and fences are high, the gate is closed. The wind gets up, her tail plumes, she starts to gallop about. This way and that. Excited, disturbed, turbulent. Confined. All sense of herself caught up in the moment. All sense of her surroundings. Lost sight of. Round and round, tossing and turning, hooves trample. The unnoticed grass beneath her toes.

Been there, ever? Wanted a way out? Tried jumping the ‘fence’? Push through the hedge? Into the next ‘field’, and the next?

Now, the wind drops. Slowly she, gradually, returning to herself. And that which sustains. Munch, munch. Until the next time!

Been there? Ever? Repeatedly? YES! And in children’s stories, I so loved, the horse jumps the gate and gallops about. Free to adventure, meeting challenges and dangers.

And for us? We adults? When the ‘winds’ diminish. Yes, the grass. The air stills. Back to ourselves. Honestly

What does she decide?
To jump?
To push on confinement?
Wait until circumstances
opens the gate?
Eat grass?

All of the above!

NB: You might be interest to listen to this Dharma Talk by Rev. Roland ‘Giving up Everything’.

In my experience, giving up and letting go involves ‘All of the Above’. ‘Letting go’ isn’t in the least bit what we imagine it to be. Thank goodness for the ‘grass’. Thank goodness for that which ‘holds’ us.

This post is for all who put pen to paper to unfurl their minds in the service of illuminating darkness. A worthy and meritorious offering.
The Blog, Dew on The Grass writers have been thinking about Freedom these past days. Here is a poem that appears in a post published today:

Freedom is the unfurling of the hand of self,
finger by grasping finger

Feathers unfold, flutter, fly
Release into the stillness of an ocean sky

A vastness deep
Ripple upon ripple dissipates into the blue-black,
lit by an eternity of stars and moon

The warmth of coolness
The illumination of the night

By Karen Richards

Read the whole post here.

I believe this to be the first post on Dew on The Grass. Timely I’d say, to take another look.

winter sunset
sprayed amongst clouds —
the sound of wind through dry grass

Anonymous contribution (many thanks)

A little lightness and brightness amidst the storms. Merit to all who suffer, one way and another.

Evening in Scotland in December and in Northumberland taken by Mugo, Friday.

Here is a quote sent to me the other day. It’s part of an article published in 2018 in the magazine, Tricycle 2018. Seems topical!

In turning toward our pain there’s great freedom—a freedom that grounds us in our core of being. As we slowly but steadily undo our various ways of fleeing our pain, the energy we’ve invested in getting away from our pain—as opposed to simply being with our pain—is freed up, becoming available for us to use for truly life-giving purposes.
Robert Augustus Masters, “A Painless Present”

and here is an interesting thought from Wittgenstein.

You learned the concept ‘pain’
when you
learned language.
Ludwig Wittgenstein