Looking up through cherry blossoms

Published by Susan Gillis Chapman on

Spring in Vancouver means riding our bikes around the sea-wall, slipping into a colourful stream of cyclists and rollar bladers, babies in strollers and seniors in scooters.  Flying by hundreds of faces, people partnered and alone, some with children or dogs, our lives meeting in a snapshot of nowness, touching for a moment and then gone forever.

I take a break, lying on the grass, gazing at the blossoms and branches and thinking of the people around me.  We’re like stars in the sky,  each of us with our own galaxy of stories, with light years of courage and unspeakable challenges behind and ahead of us.  Yet here we are, enjoying the spring blossoms together on this sunny afternoon, like brothers and sisters re-united after a very long time.   Forget those fear-based stories we hear on the news every day.  This is the true story:  the goodness of human society can be seen and felt right  here and now, on a Saturday afternoon when we come together outside for a walk or a bike ride on a sunny day in the city.

Categories: joymindful communicationrelationshipssusanwe-first

Susan Gillis Chapman

teaches part time for Green Zone Institute and for Karuna Training. Susan is a retired Marital and Family therapist who has been practicing mindfulness meditation for over 35 years.  She is the author of the book The Five Keys To Mindful Communication and a contributor to The Mindful Revolution, edited by Barry Boyce. Her website is: http://www.susangillischapman.com. Read more about Susan here.