Life is a playground and playgrounds are designed for fun, aren’t they?! Sometimes though, the playground isn’t aesthetically pleasing and designed well. Eurgh those primary colours, am I right? Sometimes there’s broken glass in the grass. But you’ve got your shoes on, yeah? What are we waiting for? Let’s play!
On the swingset, you’re soaring in the air feeling like a bird, gaining momentum, reaching higher and higher… Sometimes you can EASILY do it alone. Sometimes however, you need a push. Sometimes someone is there and they WANT to help you. Sometimes though, someone IS there but they REFUSE to help you (or don’t have capacity). Sometimes, NO ONE is there to give you that little boost to get you started. It’s up and it’s down. it’s high and it’s low. It’s back and it’s forth.
Over on the Merry Go Round you get on board with an anticipatory smile. Initially it feels like a GREAT idea to do this. The wind is making your hair fly everywhere and you’re laughing and then… it feels a little weird… hmmm okay maybe no longer actually tolerable…and very quickly you realise you’re going around and around in circles and…. you don’t want to do this anymore! The world is blurring but whoever you’re with wants to keep going, faster and faster and faster. If you’re lucky you can jump off and keep your balance. Other times you stack it and graze your knees. Sometimes you’re not in control of the speed, you want to throw up and you’re pleading with whoever will listen to make the damn thing stop.
The saying ‘this too shall pass’ is used normally to assist people in getting through hard times. However, it also applies to the best moments in life. We keep moving, forwards, backwards, high and low, fast and slow, round and around.
‘How do we find the strength to keep coming to the playground?’ I sometimes wonder. I once got really hurt and really lost at the playground and spent a period of time plotting finishing my time there. But upon further investigation I learnt it’s worth noting that sometimes unexpected magical moments things happen there, not just challenges and pain. You might meet someone at the playground who wants to join you on the see saw and share the work and the pleasure for a moment… or a month…or for a lifetime. A butterfly might land on your hand. You might find some dollar bucks blowing around in the wind, or you might devour a delicious flavoured icecream you’ve never tried before that drips down your wrists as it melts in the beaming sun. A stray dog might suprise you and lick it off your shoes as you shriek with joy at how adorable he is, before you wash your face and hands off in the bubbler.
If you’re wondering how other people are getting through this playground of conscious awakening, I’m so excited to share this blog with you… here I will be sharing interviews with the most interesting and insightful people I’ve met on my journey to share their perspective on how they process their life, challenges and tribulations as they move around in their meat carcasses on this large spinning rock, hurtling through time…
And where am I on the Swings and Roundabouts right now? I’m trying to put on foot in front of the other on the balancing beam. The same load of washing has been in the machine for four or five days now, but I’m going to do my best to hang it today.
Fox
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Swings & Roundabouts 