…cycling towards the lake today, still negotiating branches strewn on roads, hearing the buzz of chainsaws in the wood, dealing with the storm damage…thinking that we often have 70mph winds rage down through the valley, with no resulting damage. Got me thinking to how in Taiji we often use tree analagies…be rooted, yield, be like bamboo…thinking about these trees that were twisted, lifted and then thrown into fields on Friday/Saturday…thinking that these trees had been growing and yielding to winds usually from a south-westerly direction and then were caught out by a wind from a different direction; thinking about the amount of rain last year that would’ve undermined the trees roots and weakened their structure…thinking about trees in woods, that have other trees surrounding them, competing for space, other trees pressing in around them….thinking this is very like the human condition…that outwardly we may appear strong but if something has been slowly undermining our roots, stopping us from being grounded then our structure (mentally/physically) will eventually topple…thinking that if we have too many demands put on us; by others around us, family, work, society, (the wood), emotional stresses leaning upon us then it only takes an undexpected stress to topple an already weakened person…just thinking and cycling…thinking maybe those old Taoists’ knew a thing or two…
The West Coast Line 