Surrender and Sizzle
I had two things to do today—celebrate dads and edit my manuscript. After watching the buds on my new rose wilt, the grass in the backyard go crispy one day without water, and my 24 year old cat, Tigre, who has one paw beyond the veil, sprawl on the concrete, I took a cold peppermint bath and stood under the ceiling fan. It helped for a few minutes. I am stubborn when it comes to turning on the A/C. I remember when Denver houses were not built with HVAC because at night in July we simply cracked a window and the high-altitude desert air remedied a heat wave in moments. I loved that temperature.
Now, while people still debate global warming, Phoenix burns up, and my ceiling fan runs on high twenty-four/seven, I feel anxious seeing a succession of days in the high nineties, in June.
What did I do to ease the panic? I surrendered. I took off all my jewelry and clothes, lay in the back garden, arms extended like a ‘sun’ angel, sweat streaking my sides, and sizzled with everything else. Happy Father’s Day neighbors!
Surrender, though often related to the feminine, is actually a human dilemma. To surrender, or not to surrender, that is the question. I know that the masculine confronts this phenomena as well. I see my father’s inner struggle every time Desi and I invite him to a Bowspring class, or to eat Gluten Free/Vegetarian food at Vital Root, or join the Ayurvedic Cleanse…and he does it. Because of his ability to surrender we have a fun and healthy relationship, exchanging our favorite pastimes, glimpsing each other’s worlds. Desi and I do the same when we are asked to watch the Super Bowl and pretend we care. This year she designed a Bitmoji for me while my dad whooped and hollered, so we both felt we accomplished something valuable. This type of surrender is so compelling, when we suspend our restrictive thinking and behavior to accept another’s invitation to be seen; in my case the earth invited me to stop fretting, drinking cucumber water and instead to join all of life in Denver, by getting hot. Once I did, I felt better.
Byron Katie says beautifully, “99 percent of the world’s suffering comes from wishing things were other than they are.” So true. Nothing left to do but surrender. It is hot. It is going to be hot. The globe is warming. Things will die of too much heat, not enough water. The worst may be yet to come. OKAY! I SURRENDER!
What is left? Merging. Union. Higher Consciousness. Acceptance. Evolution. Involution. Divine Will.
And somehow this is actually the starting point, the place where we begin to make a difference and create the world of our dreams. I actually feel cooler just giving in, which makes sense when you consider how much energy is exhausted by resistance. The planet Mars, speaking of heat, is just about to turn direct on June 29th, and ease a little of the frustration we have collectively been feeling. Maybe we can stop shooting each other now, blowing ourselves up? Until then, enjoy the Summer Solstice, the sun, and the masculine as well as feminine art of surrender.