The waters are rising. We have had many days of rain this month and the rivers are running high, many in flood. Here on the western flank of Vermont rain falls in the mountains and tumbles through rocky streams to the rivers, then into the lake. We are told the water is too cold, high, and fast for swimming, yet people, refusing to honor the Nature of the torrent, go swimming, often creating unhappy outcomes.
We are each a force of Nature, although we tend to forget this, individually and collectively. We seem to easily lose connection with the great powers that lie embodied within us, ignoring the joys and dangers they offer. It is so very easy to identify with mind or brawn, money and might, missing the deep connection implicit in recognizing one’s own Nature. Or perhaps we lose any connection to the force of our Nature, imagining we are powerless or fearful of the energies we intuit within us.
Power is a loaded word, drenched in the abuses ingrained in our various forms of governance, education, and sadly, even family and community. Too often power is power over rather than power with or through. Yet the shamans have always taught that we are each, like the raging river, a force to be honored and reckoned with. Shamanism, like zen, opens doorways to the realization of one’s true Nature. Dare we walk through?
Dreaming the World 
Hi Michael: Stay safe! Vermont in its surprising ways brings us so close to natue and its unfathomable ways of bringing life to us.,
At the moment the sun is out and the day is fine. A true New England affair.
Dare we walk through? A good question, Michael.
This would be perfect for Bardo, by the way, should you be so inclined.
Thank you – as always – for your visits and contribution toward enrichment.
Hope yours is a lovely weekend in spite of the rain. Heat and humidity here.
Hi Jamie, You can use any post you wish for Bardo.
I hope you also have a lovely weekend. For the record, at the moment the sun is out !
Warmly, Michael
Michael Watson M.A., Ph.D., LCMHC, JourneyWorks 11Kilburn Street Burlington Vermont 05408 802-860-6203 http://www.journeyworksvt.com/ https://michaelwatsonvt.wordpress.com/ http://journeyworksvt.wordpress.com/
> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 17:45:22 +0000 > To: mwatsonlcmhc@hotmail.com >
I just returned from a lovely meeting with a young shaman. We, of course, talked at length about the doors and walking through them, or running through them if one is young. We agreed that while the desire is there, the practice of being present to what we then discover might well lag behind……
And the river would be powerless, were it not for the amalgam of raindrops coming together to form it. There is much power in a strong current of like-minded, loving folks. The opposite is true, but then this is a matter of choice. Great post. Nature provides so many (all) answers to the question “who are we?”