Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

The Heart of Things by Christina Rosalie

I bought this piece during Christina Rosalie’s recent Celebrate Spring! studio sale. She’s one of my favorite writers and I adore her art. I’d tried in past studio sales to buy something, but I was never quick enough. By the time I would look at what she was offering, find my favorite, someone else had already claimed it. When I saw this one — the bird in flight, the quote on the bottom, the colors — I knew it was my favorite, but it was listed first so I thought for sure it would already belong to someone else. I was so surprised when I clicked on it and saw that no one had claimed it yet. I refreshed the page a few times because I couldn’t believe it. Once it sunk in that no one else had picked it, I left a comment: Me please. ❤

“Magic through the heart.” I love that so much. I asked Christina what kind of bird it is, but she hasn’t told me yet, and I’m glad. I guessed it’s a sparrow, with that little body and the shape of its head, but I’ve never seen a blue one. I did some research this morning to see if it might be a real sparrow or simply an artistic representation, or another bird altogether. First I searched for blue birds, then for blue sparrows, and what I found is a sweet little mystery. There shouldn’t be blue sparrows, and yet they’ve apparently been spotted in both Australia and Canada — but no one can explain them. I found a few articles about the mystery, Blue sparrow mystery: Unique bird confounds experts and Brown Bird Blue: Unique, Never-Before-Seen Color Mutation Amazes Experts and The Riddle of the Blue Sparrow…, along with a few pictures.

The world is such a magic, mysterious place. We think we know, but we don’t know anything, can’t explain how such things can happen or exist. Simply by paying attention, noticing, being curious and patient, you discover the most interesting things. Sometimes it’s a thing entirely new, like a bird the color of the ocean that no one can explain, and other times it’s remembering, like hearing the sound of the birds in the early morning of spring and realizing for the first time how quiet the mornings had been all winter — either way, it feels like waking up.

1. Spring. Bird song in the morning, crocuses blooming, 2 for $5 bundles of daffodils at the grocery store, driving with the windows rolled down, sitting on the back step in the sun while the dogs lounge on the patio.

2. Spring Break. Yes, I could have included this as an item in my list of all things Spring, but it deserves its own listing all by itself — it’s that good. And today is the best, the Friday before Spring Break. I feel giddy and so hopeful that the time mostly away from work will allow the space for some rest and ease.

3. My boys, sweet Sam and Ringo Blue. Have I told you lately how much I love my dogs? We haven’t started Sam’s elimination diet yet to try and figure out exactly what he’s allergic to, but even just switching him to a salmon based primary food has made a big difference. I’ve also been noticing how much more he trusts us now, how much more relaxed he is as a five year old. He’s always been a sensitive dog, so even though he’s been with us since he was around 10 weeks old, it took him some time to be totally comfortable — although he still thinks the washing machine is an evil monster and hides in the bathroom when it’s on. Ringo Blue’s foot is almost completely healed. He’s even been able to run around crazy in the backyard a few times even though it’s muddy right now with the snow melt. He went through a few weeks of hardcore puppy terrible twos recently, but he has been really good for the past few days so I’m hoping that bad boy Wolverine thing isn’t something that will stick.

4. Yoga. I’m teaching three classes next week, but to three different groups, so I’m going to plan one new class and then get to practice it three times.

5. TV that makes me laugh. This week it was Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and New Girl and Friends, which Eric and I have been binge watching since Christmas — I had forgotten there were 10 seasons of it! The Mindy Project sadly has been doing that thing all sitcoms seem to do eventually where they hit a season in which the comedy turns mean and the characters get weird not in a good way.

Bonus Joy: an email I was worried to send that got a good response, lemon, sweet potato, finally starting to adjust a little to the time change, the Open Heart Project Sangha (this month’s topic is genuine transformation and it’s so good!), Feast, finally mailing some things that had been in my “mail this” pile for far too long, permission to trust myself, laughing with my interns, getting out some of the strawberry jam I made this summer and realizing it really isn’t that bad, french toast with strawberries and jam for dinner.