Today I hosted Carol and Tina from London and West Sussex on Zoom for an online Street Wisdom event.
I thought I would participate fully, doing it through Zoom, I realized that would be a bit much, so I focused on hosting instead while having a coffee at a local cafe in Nairobi, such a nice treat in these Covid times.
The first thing that was really cool and different about this Street Wisdom was having people do it in their own homes, instead of the streets, where they live every day. I think it’s even more interesting to do it in a space that’s all too familiar. I did in the coffee shop, one that I often frequent and it’s truly amazing the things that street wisdom exercises are able to bring to your attention.
Doing the three Tune up’s were really easy, and nice, knowing that you are doing it with other people. I think the hardest one was slowing down to observe something new, it’s quite hard when you are in a familiar place. Looking at everything through the eyes of love and beauty was heartwarming for all of us. It brought back feelings of gratitude and awe about the everyday views and things, we take for granted. We all realized how wonderful our spaces actually are despite all the things we usually see wrong with it.
Most of us didn’t have a specific question in mind other than “what did the universe have in store for us”. The first person to share noticed all the colours in her house, and the colour pencils and art objects. She noticed her crystals and was reminded of how the lights hit them, and create colours in the room. We equated this to healing, and creativity. Perhaps the universe was asking her to open up more to her artistic nature. She was also drawn to the nature around her and the peace drawn from being surrounded by plants, as well the comfort provided by the soft toys around her, she was reminded that she is never alone. How could she use this in her everyday life? We felt that she should remember to take her art and creativity wherever she goes. And remember that she is always loved and protected just as she is in her home, and that life is a vibrant spectrum of colours. One of us suggested carrying the crystal around and recalled finding a pebble on the beach which she carried with her in her pocket for years, it just gave her comfort. I shared doing the same, and it was so comforting to know that there are other people across the world that do the same weird things, and just how powerful even just pieces of nature can make us feel.
The second guest shared how they were really hit by the light and dark contrast with the light flowing through the window, appreciating that one would not exist without the other. We talked about the contrast of life, acknowledging that we need the dark and the shadows to be there in life to spur on the light. It would be boring if life was one long journey of eternal bliss, it’s the contrasts that make the journey interesting, it’s the contrasts that help us grow. She was also drawn to her circle and square furniture, also in contrast with each other, but today they seemed to have some harmony. Again what was coming out was contrast, and the beauty in contrast. As we talked further we were also drawn to the fact that squares are rigid and fixed and finite and definitely a human creation. As we were all inspired by the nature around us, we realized that rarely do you see squares in nature, circles seem to have a lot more flow and be a lot more represented in nature. The lesson here was to have more fluidity in life, flow more and ignore the squares, like a river flowing, sometimes we may get stuck in corners but if we stay open, if we let go and flow, eventually we will get out and keep moving forward having learnt something from being in the square, dark, shadows. So back to contrast, it is there, we should embrace it, but not get stuck, this is the wisdom we could use from this take out. Covid has been a good case in point about flow-ing with what is, despite the constraints, if we stay still, and open and flexible, eventually we will move forward.
It was so comforting to have such deep discussions with total strangers from different parts of the world. We talked a lot about nature and needing more of it in our lives. We talked about how we are super busy with the modern lifestyles we have created for ourselves. There is hardly enough time to just appreciate the beauty, appreciate the simple things and just float through life, instead of running. I think all us felt more connected to something bigger than us, and more hopeful about the future. Truly, answers are everywhere. Thank you Street Wisdom
