Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Seeking Balance


Borders Books, downtown, was packed with people yesterday afternoon. The citizens of DC read books. I love that.

Yesterday was a sparkling, beautiful, clear winter day in Washington DC. After my massage, I walked around for a couple of hours, taking pictures, breathing, gazing around. I'm trying so hard to pump myself back to my characteristically cheerful state of being, and though I'm better, there's still an edge to my mood, a hint of darkness I can't quite shake.

I keep thinking about the blackbirds that fell from the sky in Arkansas and Louisiana - at last count 5,000 of them. Thinking about all the dead fish that washed up - also in Louisiana I think. Surely these animals are the latest victims of the oil spill. It really creeps me out.

In my dreams I'm cleaning up a big mess, no doubt the detritus from all those hideous nightmares. Cleaning, tidying, clearing. Am I the only one still reeling from the eclipse cycle?


That guy in the upper right side of the pic? He wasn't there when I took the shot. Yikes!

24 comments:

jeanette from everton terrace said...

Oh dear, you have given me goosebumps again this morning with that last photo. I have been feeling excited and happy during the day but each day for I've been waking up at exactly 3:30, starting to drive me nuts.
I find it interesting to see that modern building in your photo. Usually they are older historical type buildings, I don't imagine DC with these newer types. Of course I know they are there, I just don't think about that part.

ellen abbott said...

the bird die off is really creepy. What on earth makes a huge flock of birds just suddenly go crazy and start flying into things or just plain dropping from the sky?

Susan Carpenter Sims said...

Is that what I'm reeling from? I have the same feeling of a lingering darkness I can't shake. I'm definitely not feeling the rebirth of light the solstice is supposed to bring.

The cleaning theme is definitely there for me too. On a personal level, I've been trying to get my house in order, but it feels like I'm just shifting the mess from one place to another because my house is just too small and ill-equipped for all the stuff in it. Your post makes me see this as reflective of the macrocosm.

Reya Mellicker said...

When in doubt, I throw things away, give them away, put them into recycling. Hence I own almost nothing. I like it this way!

Jeanette, yes we have modern buildings downtown in DC. No skyscrapers though as it is forbidden to build anything taller than the Capitol. It gives downtown a nice scale, I think.

Whitney Lee said...

I find I'm moody as all get out. I am floating between upbeat, melancholy, restless, irritable, weepy, and so on. I'm ready to be on a more even keel, emotionally speaking.

Perhaps this is an opportunity to cultivate more patience with my moods...

glnroz said...

yes, where it comes from and how it goes, not sure. I am ready for it to "git". This spot is sort of a shelter, its seems at times.

Reya Mellicker said...

Ready for it to "git" eh? Oh yeah, me, too!

NanU said...

It is strange about the birds and the fish, but why are they surely the latest victims of the oil spill? Why make this attribution?

Reya Mellicker said...

All these animals died within spitting range of the gulf. Of course I don't know what happened for sure.

Jo said...

I, too, am seeking balance lately. I've been off kilter for the last few days, and I'm tiring of the feeling. I'm hoping the official end of the holiday season (kids back in school) will be the harbinger of equalibrium for me.

Creeping me out with the photo, Reya.

Dibs said...

I understand what you are saying so well, and I wish to live like you do. A little over a year ago, the economy forced a job and geography change on my family that we are still adjusting to.

We moved into a much smaller house than our old one, and while I am very glad to have a roof over my head, I feel like I am smothering. Our former home had wonderful light and space and neighbors and community and friends and family, and our new "home" has none of these. I keep purging things and it seems to get no better.

I read your blog daily and it brings light into my world. Thank you for listening and for writing.

Janelle said...

woah...flippin' SPOOKY man....eesh. xxx j

Linda Sue said...

Well at least that guy in the window is handsome and does not look menacing, simply direct and curious- he is SO looking at you and that gives me the willies. There is something going on, my chest feels heavy and not because I have large boobs because I don't, It is on the inside. It seems to be a collective feeling- some are blaming others, some- the traffic- some blaming the dinner they consumed last night. It is odd-

A Concerned Citizen said...

I am definitely in cleaning-up mode, but in my case it's my emotional life that's getting the scrubbing. Yes, I am reeling, too, yet I feel that I'm reeling toward something that resonates at a better, truer level. May the force be with us both as we find our way back to places of balance.

Nancy said...

Whoa - that guy wasn't there when you took the picture??? That is weird.

I cannot get past the bird die off and the fish washing up on shore - the latest is thousands in Maryland, or so I've heard. What does your Shamanic guides tell you? Could we be entering a pole shift?

(I'm taking a core workshop in Shamanism in March. I would love to chat with you by phone sometime.)

Dave King said...

I've been reading about the birds falling from the sky. Eerie, t say the least. And then the guy in the window... is that the beginnings fr two stories, or just the one? Great post, great blog. Glad I came.

Deborah said...

Arkansas has had a plethora of earthquakes over about s month--very unusual. I wondered if this was connected.

Reya Mellicker said...

Nancy let's definitely talk.

Dibs it's very nice to "meet" you. The turn in the economy was very rough for so many people. I feel really lucky to have what I have.

Yeah that guy - creepy huh? I walked past again this morning to see if there was a poster on the back wall of the dry cleaners that I might have inadvertently captured digitally.

Nope.

Linda Sue - yeah, something is up. don't ask me what it is! I have no idea.

Reya Mellicker said...

I forgot bout the earthquakes.

Kerry said...

The bird die-off makes me so sad. It seems like a terrible warning, like the canaries in the mine shafts. But maybe this is one of those things that gets our attention, and we can study, understand, and fix it. Like the pollution of Lake Erie, like the demise of the bald eagle, like the struggling salmon in our rivers.

I do believe that the feelings of dread and fear can be turned into a positive force.

Reya Mellicker said...

Thanks Kerry! You're right.

You know, eagles are coming back very strongly. Very.

Elizabeth said...

The Mary Oliver poem below totally stuns.
Such pink light just about now....

YES YES to the cleaning bit

the last night of the Christmas tree.

oxox

Anonymous said...

You're brave walking past there again!

Barbara Martin said...

Not the only one cleaning for new experiences yet to come.