Limbo lies heavily on my shoulders. While some can see it as the pause before change, I find myself dancing awkwardly, offbeat and caught up in waiting. When asked, “What is your biggest challenge?”, well, I know that my response is relative and a shape-shifter depending on where one is at in a certain point in life. But for right now, if I am being honest, I would have to answer, “Trusting.” So much has been up in the air these past few months, so many glittering balls suspended, yet to tumble down. They will. And I am definitely aware that uncertainty is a part of many of our daily lives. Best then to try and make peace with this parenthesis. When I am present enough, I can decide to root myself in searching for beauty, my balm…
Day in, day out.
Ben reminds me to keep it simple.
Remi reassures me with a quick kiss in passing.
My Sister reminds me to take good care of myself and I know that there is strength to be found in helping others.
(Buy U2’s excellent song “Invisible” on itunes or donate to the Bank of America’s pledge for RED’s fight against AIDS.
or
Take The Valentine’s Day Romantic survey to help BabyHeart: http://womensvoicesforchange.org/80609.htm – thanks Tish!)
And when in limbo, what better a time to ask yourself the important questions.
“Do you have Love for Humankind?” I do and in that I trust. The rest will work itself out.
To listen and watch:
Today’s post is my contribution to the By Invitation Only party. Once a month, a group of bloggers from around the world, write on a specific theme. This month’s theme is “What is your Biggest Challenge?” To discover the other posts, please click here.
Ah, yes, "trusting" (or what I might also call "faith")! In my Tibetan Buddhist Meditation class, we did analytical meditation on 2 topics: impermanence, and patience/tolerance. So for homework we can do one at a time, or do both within the same session. When doing both, I'm struck by how similar or intertwined they are: life is impermanent, so we must be patient with change/movement. It's sort of like not clinging to desired outcomes; being okay with things as they are, and remembering to be grateful for things (as impermanence dictates they might be gone at any time). I'm glad you have an awesome sister reminding you about self care (ahem) and that you keep searching for beauty no matter what and sharing it with us!!!
Sending you love.
Au contraire, cher G, you made my day, donc merci à toi…
Ahhh, I hope that you are right that calm is next, Catherine! And I hope to see you before March over at your beautiful blog. 🙂
So glad that you liked that gorgeous piece of music but am not surprised in the least that you did…
Oh, I will take that belief willingly and will try to make something good out of it dear V! Promise! 🙂
Maybe…NK…maybe. But I have a hunkering that your novel will kick start your next phase!
Oh you are so amazing!! This made me smile from ear to ear, not an easy feat these days…but then again apparently easier than becoming a champion at the Limbo!! Just fabulous, thank you so much, G.
I am glad that you listened to it, Edgar! Every once in a while, a piece of music comes along and I can't stop listening to it. Literally! That was on repeat the entire time while I wrote this short post. And thank you for your point of view added to my words, I appreciate that quite a lot.
Bill, that was an amazing take on the challenges of flux. I am still thinking about it and am still saying "Next!"…
Thank you for your kind words as well, they are much appreciated…
Aloha,
H
Thank you Helen. It is so nice to see you here and I send your warm wishes right back to you. Oh, the formula for patience!! We would be millionaires! 😉 It is why I started taking photos, to try to be more patient…
Bisous.
I hope you are right and I hope in a positive way, friend. You always seem to have a sixth sense about me, so I believe you!
Friend, I will admit that it took me a while to respond to the comments on this post because I was thinking on and about, over and over, this quote. It is the promise of Hope defined. And maybe Beauty too. There is much more to say but it would be more appropriate in an email but then again, I know that you know that this was just what the Maestro ordered. So grateful for you, angel (in training?) that you are.
Namaste.
Thank you so much, DA. You spend so much of your life helping and inspiring others, it makes me very happy indeed if I can give back a tiny bit of it.
And yes, recovering from a sense of disappointment is something that I have been thinking about lately, how we talk to ourselves, what we choose to believe…
Oh! I saw that while searching for the video that I included but will go to listen to it now. Thank you! What an incredible voice he has. If you like it, you can't forget it.
And eeee, I have an inkling of what your procedure must have been and I heard it is awful. I will be keeping you in my thoughts for an all clear, friend.
Bisous and a hug.
PS. I redid the edit on these photos five times! So I am glad that you liked the way they worked together. 🙂
I think you are a wonderful lady, Loree. Thank you for this.
Mais oui Silke…I will take it wherever I can find it. 😉 And the book that you produced sounds fantastic and fascinating…Limbo is somewhere in the middle, in the in-between.
Why do they say the devil is in the details? I would say, looking at your beautiful photography, that it's exactly the opposite. The truth is in the details. And Light and Love and Grace and everything that makes the heart sing. Thank you, XXXX G
Oh, yes I can relate to that feeling…but when it passes and things have moved on…then comes the calm; enjoy!
Such beautiful photography and I LOVE 'Do you have Love for Humankind' I had not heard it before.
I'm sorry I was unable to join the group this month…see you in March 🙂 xx
I await with interest your latest adventure, Heather… I know all the limbo, waiting and uncertainty will flourish beautifully… 🙂 xv
Ah yes…limbo is frustrating, I feel like I have been living it for a couple of years now. Wondering when the next phase will come but then I suppose that is all of life, eh? Beautiful photos as always!
Limbo is a place, a state of being. Limbo, as you acknowledge, at the start of your post is also a dance. In the dance, the dancer tries to pass under the pole, and emerge triumphant. The key to success seems to lie in the origin of the word limbo, from the Jamaican English word, limba, to bend. According to Wiki, in the original limbo, with each successful transit under the pole, the pole was raised. This meant with each success, the dance became easier and easier. Nice! I think with your search for beauty, you are participating in very successful bending. You are bound to come through in triumph 🙂
“At certain point in life” discernment and decision intersect which may take some time.
“Trust” and faith come together and help you wait.
Your photos show the raw beauty of time and place and the tiny crescent moon watched you walked by.
Thank you for the haunting video-music.
Aloha Heather .. beautiful post. I'm including a past contribution to my blog that I hope will be uplifting for you. Please keep up the great work, sharing your gift with us.
http://kauai-to-paris.com/2/post/2013/01/next.html
Hello Heather
Limbo is exactly what we were speaking of this evening amongst friends. Oh if we could find the formula for patience. I love your images and words. Sending you my best wishes
Helen xx
Taking an untrumpeted break from many things, blogging among them. However, was led here, I am certain, by Divine appointment. Allow me to share with you the words I just read:
'My perceptual field focuses automatically in each human being, adjusting for each and every situation, providing precisely the the range of awareness that is required for that moment in time. Perfection is trusting this, accepting the field of awareness that you have in any given moment, knowing it as precisely what you need for the purpose you are there to fulfill. When you have this trust, you know yourself to be one with your Creator. You do all things well, enjoying your work and bringing happiness to those whose space and time you share. Trust first in the little things and as this habit grows, you will come to see the larger picture.
Be with me now. Let your heart be still. Let all within the field of your awareness drift gently to a state of rest. Take time for me and I will give you a new time and a new way to use the time you have. More than the air, you need communion with your Holy Spirit. Take the time to be still, to be with me. Let yourself rest in the Eternal Being. Know the peace and security of your Creator's presence, the inheritance, the birthright you have forgotten. Sustain yourself in a restful state, trusting, while I flow refreshing through your circuitry, soothing you with grace, illuminating your understanding.To consciousness I call you, to a time of birth and awakening, to an Age of Discovery and adventure, but most of all I call you home.'
Trusting, trusting that life will pan out, somehow, some way…and strangely, it mostly always seems to be so…It's going to be an interesting year of growth and change for you, I feel. xx Virginia
There are so many ways to feel in limbo, Heather. It's a difficult way to live, I know. Perhaps it is a consolation to know that you aren't alone. Trusting – when we've been let down by "the universe" or disappointed in other ways – is a casualty for many of us.
Meanwhile, the search for beauty – and the treasure of finding it, always, in your words and images – is indeed a balm, and grounding.
Also want to mention how much I love Antony. I first heard it several years ago when watching a Leonard Cohen retrospective with my husband and son. He sang "If it Be Your Will," and we were moved by him. Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqKQR5d9baA
This comment has been removed by the author.
Oh, these photos fit together like an interesting jigsaw puzzle, something in one takes me to the next. Its not always a direct step, but one that makes me notice. This afternoon as I write this, I am returning to my normal physical state after a medical test that requires a day on liquids and drinking some really nasty stuff — anyone in the U.S. over 50 who can afford health insurance, knows what I am talking about.
How great to have these photos to help me return to balance.
You have to keep searching out the beauty in this world, Heather, lucky us that you share it in a way that lifts our spirits.
You always succeed in finding beauty and sharing it with us. As for trust, it's not easy. But we must. We must trust. We must believe in our fellow men (and women). Humanity is not always easy to love. But together, we can make the impossible happen.
Its funny, reading your post it came to my mind that in 2010 I produced a book called " In Limbo, where else" for a berlin based artist, Alexandra Hopf, Salon Verlag. The book contains nine tales English and German and one can read it from both sides, front and back. English and German meet in the middle.
I look at it now again, your post and in mind…
Keep on finding beauty! I quite like that you see beauty sur le pavé le long des quais de la rhône, un jour pluvieux…
Thank you Marsha but you not only see beauty: you make it!
PS. I thought that you of all people would like that video. 🙂
Yes, I do have love for humanity, all of humanity. And for our wildlife, as well.
And, the way you see beauty, Heather, should be a great reminder to us all that almost anywhere we seek beauty we will find it. Just a beautiful post. xx's
Jenny, I know how hard you have been struggling with this and am so glad to hear that you will be able to continue your time in Texas. That sun is good for the soul! And now, you are even stronger for it. Very inspiring. Sending good thoughts right back at you…
Thank you friend, that means more to me than you know. And I have said it once and I will say it again but I so appreciate our similarities and am really grateful to have met you in person so I know them to be true! It's the mega intangibles that get under my skin. Although I remember hearing once that as long as it wasn't a health problem, then it really isn't a problem!
You inspire me too. 🙂
Bisous!
"For a while" being the key phrase, Mr. Laoch! Hope you are having a bit of warmer weather…
It is excellent advice Mumbai and I am trying, I promise you that. You are so right. Everything changes, nothing is permanent…
And to you, Mona. I am still thinking about your lovely post and those amazing quotes…
Gillian, this is one thing that I wish that we diiiidn't have in common! But as my Mom says, "the wheel always turns"…We just have to hang in there.
You know, I didn't find your post flippant at all! You seem well aware and truly appreciative of your life and your outlook. That is beyond admirable! And I definitely meant the bday comment–you rock!
Bisous…
Heather, Limbo is my new middle name. I have been dangling on a string, a small thread of hope, trying to stay in a place of peace the past two months. I finally got my answer today and it is good, what I wanted. It has been a long time since I've had the rug pulled out from under me by a husband but he had his own issues to work through which he needed time alone to do. We live in two countries. How do I go on without you was my song. Now I know I can. I've had some adjustments to make, too. If I can really trust God I am okay. I will be praying for you, too. xo Jenny
Beautiful and inspiring, Heather! Those moments when you realize that the world is not made of solid stuff but is ever shifting beneath our feet it becomes hard to breath and be present. Mr. H tells me not to worry about things I can't control – but those are the things I worry most about. If I could control it, I could be sure of the outcome!
Your wise words show me that you are learning and growing from this challenge of trust. Listen to your sister. Continue to look for beauty. You inspire us, Heather! XOXO
Sometimes it is useful to sit and linger for a while in ambiguity.
The biggest challenge in life is definitely life itself. And life is in Limbo…always. I learned uncertainty since 4 yrs and as you know from onei day to another (ok one week to another) it suddenly changed. Trust and find your inner
peace is a well chosen attribute which will help you to get over.
Such a beautiful post…and oh that simple word but very hard to do "trust". How wonderful if we could all get there. Have a great day. Mona
Ah. Limbo. A familiar friend of mine. I will take your gift of beautiful words and the soft winter light of Provence to heart.
Oh Heather,
What a beautiful and touching post in images, words and music. I do feel rather bad that my post was a little flippant as I know people do face very difficult challenges everyday. This is a lovely piece of writing and I will echo your sister's words and say ' Do take care of yourself '. Sending much love from the UK and look after yourself.
Have a lovely week Heather and many thanks for your kind birthday wishes and lovely comment. XXXX