North or South: Who will we choose to be today?

After soft landings

And warm laughter in Bosque Beauty

We circled together

Bringing that good medicine from each other

Giving our good medicine to the circle in return

 

We stood and contemplated one of life’s greatest challenges.

To the south we see water, trees, and tranquility. A falcon greeting us.

We pivot 180 degrees.

To the north we see cars, exhaust, concrete. A “Sonix” tempting us.

Feet in the same spot, but these two views are worlds apart.

 

Which will we choose today?

Bosque Beauty or Avenida Cesar Chavez?

When we find ourselves turning to the latter, can we find creative ways to gently turn gaze back to the former?

Will we trust life’s gifts (e.g. movement, prayer, community) to help us turn south when we feel a pull to the north?

In these questions lies the deeper one:

                                                Who will we choose to be today?

For those who weren't there for our Running Medicine walk/run on Saturday, a little context for the above piece. We moved in a beautiful place in Albuquerque known as the Bosque, set by the Rio Grande River. We visited a patch of yerba mansa, an herbal medicine shown in the picture above as we got our medicine through walking and running. When we circled together to stretch, we were in an interesting spot. To our south, we could see water, trees and the Bosque Beauty we had just immersed ourselves in. And to the north of us, a concrete landscape known as Avenida Cesar Chavez. We stood in one spot, but contemplated together how the simple act of turning to the south or to the north changed our lens on where we were drastically. You are welcome to join us for a walk/run anytime - https://runningmedicine.org