Higher Cause

Michael's been getting a lot of air time lately in the glider. Flying seems to put him in that place where everything falls into a zen-like, seamless reality of earth and sky melding together. I know how it feels to have that 'right place'...what running has been for me in those magical moments when my body feels strangely at ease in the motion. Saturday's run brought me this insight: despite the need for strength, endurance or 'form', there is a distinct lack of normal controls to running. Meaning, in every other area of life, there is a deliberate sense of posture, positioning, presentation. But in the run, its a flat out goal to keep moving forward, and hey! it's not always pretty!!

When the factors all come together, running movement is a meditation motion. It lifts the mind from it's usual frame of reference and allows a kind of sideways slide into an alternate perception of reality. This 'slide' brings relief from the constraints of all that other sitting, standing, laying down; a freedom in motion that seems to allow the brain to release itself from the any mental urgency. The motion gives 'permission' to move a lot, a little, a little bit more; to grimace, laugh, sing, cry. To contemplate universal truths, to indulge fantasy and day dream. Without the Editor (unless of course it's the critical coach...) the hour or 2 on the road is an escape from any other role in life. For me, FREEDOM. No matter how poorly the performance, I am most completely myself...open to whatever the run brings.

Any time we seem to 'plug in' to those magical processes, we serve the Higher Cause of our own path and practice. I know Michael does this in the glider. His excitement comes through and is the proof it takes him to that place. For the folks I work with, the message comes back to Joseph Campbell and 'find your bliss'...the connection to something Greater than you is there!