You may be wondering what a dancer might have to say about mushrooms. Actually I have a folder specifically for pictures of mushrooms. I find them fascinating! The enjoyment might come from imagining invisible free floating fungi twirling through the atmosphere in an improvisational dance gathering other microscopic spores and softly landing en masse in a decorative clump. They stay for a short while and then transformed into something else, they disappear. The sheer variety of shapes and sizes takes me to a state of wonder and excitement that embraces me in joy for long periods of time.
Before you write me off as insane consider reading the rest of this essay.
This particular grouping caught my attention by their size. Bewildered by the shape I stared at the conglomeration through my car window for some time waiting for something to happen as initially I was unsure of what it was. When I decided to step out of my car I realized, nothing more was going to happen, the mushroom had already expressed itself in this unique design. I was the recipient of a gift of nature. Filled with glee I captured them in a photo for my collection.
Isn’t that the way life is—with eyes open Beauty arises from unexpected places and conditions. Even the simplest things can bring joy, nurturing our souls and spirits in curious ways through a wide variety of experiences that are dazzling—even mushrooms.
As a youngster, I don’t remember my relationship with nature including photo ops with mushrooms or peering at the petals of a flower with a camera. However, the association with the natural world was just as intimate in other ways.
On a swing pushing as far back as possible and running until I could thrust my legs into the air, look up into the sky, clasping the handles and reveling in the sensation of a breeze on my skin, trusting the natural forces of gravity with the help of my legs pushing me forward and backward. Oh what delight. Or a few hours at the neighborhood park, bundled up with mittens, heavy boots and wool hat running down a slope with sleigh in one hand ready to launch myself face down and slide down a hill of wet, sticky snow in utter jubilation. Or better yet, finding untouched piles of snow, falling backwards making snow angels engaging in pure unadulterated fun. Who knew play could be so freeing and simple?
As for Springtime outings in nature, visiting the same park filled with flowers of every assortment and intoxicating scents that spoke to the senses and birds playfully participating in a season of life’s renewal. These adventures in nature were moving, meaningful and memorable as was the freedom to fearlessly run, jump and explore the outdoors.
As a young person I was a purveyor of beauty if not in nature than in the dance studio. In the process of overcoming fatigue and enduring positions that tested human flexibility I was able to produce in the human form beautifully crafted positions which were momentarily captured in a mirror and stored in the muscles. In many instances, like nature it took months to create clearly defined poses representative of the classical ballet vocabulary, though not perfect, the end result was always gratifying. What I couldn’t begin to conceptualize with my young body, wise teachers had already imagined for me through their visionary guidance.
For me what makes life so amazing are the opportunities to become saturated in beauty, to see it, hear it, or move through it with our bodies. As ceremonial beings we are participants and weavers in the artistry of life; our own, others, and nature.
With practice and purity of heart we bring forth our inner beauty; seeing things differently, listening to conversations without judgment, embracing diversity in abundance and cultivating a glow, a kind of eternal flame. Much like a sacrament we are messengers of “inward spiritual grace.” We have brought out what is inside us and the potential of what can Be in the moment. With this intention we can believe in a wonderful wholeness as described in The Wild God of the World: An Anthology of Robinson Jeffers:
I believe that the universe is one being, all its parts are different expressions of the same energy, and they are all in communication with each other influencing each other, therefore parts of one organic whole. The parts change and pass, or die, people and races and rocks and stars; none of them seems to me important in itself, but only the whole. This whole is in all its parts so beautiful, and is felt by me to be so intensely in earnest, that I am compelled to love it, and to think of it as divine.
How fortunate we are to be participants and co-creators at this time in history. Who knows the rarefied beauties you might capture or artistically nurture?