Shimmering, Glowing

I love it when thoughts and messages and ideas collide. Like this morning which gave a new and full meaning to the word 'shimmering'.

First, the kid-speak part of it. Don't you love how kids hear words in line with their thoughts and they come out fancifully garbled. Gabe told me about the President's Day history lessons, learning about the founding forefathers and the 'Decoration of Independence', Rose always asks me to put her hair up in 'pink-tales' because the first time I did, I used pink hair bands. Rose again, on a couple of occasions, before a long anticipated pool-party birthday and during a very scary movie (yesterday), announced that she was so excited/scared that her legs were 'shimmering'. I laugh and laugh inside and I don't make any attempt to correct them.

Next was a gorgeous run this morning, my first since the marathon, but beautifully sunny and crisp. Before I left I was feeling shaky-quaky, not bad, but so full of energy that I couldn't wait to begin. As Rosie would say, I was 'shimmering'. When I finally hit the trail, the overflow of energy I had kept prodding me into a faster pace, which I would catch myself in the middle of, breathless, and slow down laughing. I was in no hurry, not racing, had nothing in mind but enjoying the harmony of the weather, my body and my spirit, in that timelessness of an early morning run. When I finished an hour later I was not really tired, but the energy had smoothed out all over me - I felt I moved from 'shimmering' to 'glowing'. Glowing is my own term, one I use for the post-race or post-workout high, not just adrenaline or endorphins, but the satisfaction of it. Its when something you've done physically causes more energy in you than what it cost, quite often because of the harmony of what you've done. Harmony, as on my run.

And finally, what brought it all together for me was the message of the day from a wonderful and inspirational web-site called the daily good (http://www.dailygood.org/) about our own unique energy;

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open." --Martha Graham

-- a life force, an energy, a quickening --

A shimmering, a glowing - do these happen to you? Are you close enough to the sense of yourself as an energy spirit to feel these from time to time? Are there times when the very act of breathing is an immensely pleasurable experience? Maybe you think I'm a kook, and maybe I am, but its the kind of kookiness that I wish could infect everyone. And I'm ever thankful for the kid speak and early morning adventures that make it all clear.

(Thanks to Danny for the lovely picture.)