Last Star, First Bird Awake to Transitions

Stars are still out when I go out back for my morning sit this time of year.  Ten or twelve bright ones wave like friends in the brightening sky above.

Slowly they fade as day overtakes night and sunlight dapples the tall pines by my garage.

It’s warm enough these mornings that crickets still chirp when I’m out stargazing, but because light hasn’t yet broken, the birds are quiet.  Until they’re not. 

At some unknown cue, some imperceptible amount of brightening, the birds start their song.  One little voice twitters in a bush and moments later ten more answer.  The song moves like a wave East to West across my yard and down the block.

Morning has arrived. Birds sing.  Stars blink out.  Did I catch it?

These mornings I try to play a game.  I try to notice the exact moment night gives over to day.  I want to see the last star fade into predawn brightness.  I want to hear the very first birdsong of the day.

I’m trying to be present for transition.  

In Transition

We are forever in transitions big and small.  One activity to the next.  One day into the next.  One breath pouring into the next.  We are transitioning all the time.  The question is: are we awake for it?  

Are we awake enough to notice when birds start singing or leaves start dropping? Are we giving the same attention to the movement between poses as we give the poses themselves? Are we awake to the subtle changes our bodies make that signal new attention is needed? 

Are we aware of the transitions in our relationships as they mature? Awake enough to meet the person in front of us as someone new though we’ve known them all our lives? Willing to allow them to change, and our relationships to change with them, even if we don’t like the way it’s going?

Do we feel the moment in-breath pauses then turns into out-breath? 

Are we awake?

Alive in the Moment

Life is full of that other word for transition - CHANGE.  Invited or uninvited, change is always here.  There’s no way for any of us to stop it.  Pausing time was never on the table.

What is on the table is presence…. and meeting the moment with your full self.  That’s why paying attention to transitions is so important.  When we are aware of transitions, shifts, changes, we can meet them.  We can muster intentions and recall what’s most important.  We can resolve to feel all the things, difficult or agonizing as they may be.  We can move towards instead of pulling away.  We can really LIVE.  

That’s always been the invitation.  Stay awake and alive and perhaps even enraptured with your life, with life itself.  Curious. 

HERE. PRESENT.  ALIVE.  

If you’ve been feeling dull inside, it’s time to wake up to the transitions that are always happening. 

If you’ve felt afraid of change - know that it’s always happening, it is life itself. 

If everything feels the same all the time, look around, notice the seasons, and feel your breath.

Watch the stars go out.  Listen to the birds wake up.  

Life is living right here and now.  Are you awake for it?