Liz HK lives on a tiny island in the Salish Sea. She’s a great gardener, among her many talents, and recently she posted this beautiful photo of the Calypso Orchid. Read her suggestions for appreciating the elusive fragrance:
“First, hold your breath lest you blow the perfume away. Without breathing, get your nose down to its level. Now, when you are inches away, breathe in slowly and savor the aroma as you only get one chance--the bloom is only big enough to hold enough scent for one fleeting whiff.”
What a beautiful exercise for being mindful.
May is Mindfulness Month in my coaching studio. It’s a concept I’ve struggled with for a long time. I even felt a flutter of anxiety in committing to a mindfulness month in my own studio - yikes.
An impatient person, I’ve spent years rolling my eyes when people talked about meditation or described simple acts of observation and appreciation. I’ve resisted aspects of my voice training that encouraged mindfulness. “Let’s just go - get on with it - do the thing,” I think to myself.
Of course it’s a control issue. I resist because I feel fear. I’m pretty much Luke Skywalker when he first meets Yoda. Much anger in me. Never my mind on where I was, what I was doing.
But every time I speak from that state of anger, fear or impatience…it hurts. The sensation in my throat is uncomfortable, and the sound I hear is not what I want to sound like. If my voice had a colour in those moments, it would be a pale, shadowy, yellowish grey.
Meanwhile, when I think of times my voice feels good, I’d describe it as the colour of this Calypso Orchid. And it feels like it’s resonating freely through my body. Those have been moments when I wasn’t thinking about the future or the past. Moments when I let the armour slip a bit, let breathe drop in, and give myself over to the present.
In ‘Auguries of Innocence’, William Blake writes:
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
It’s hard to let go. Release that need for control. And I’m still learning about my fears. But it’s a good practice for me.
So this month, to coax myself gently towards the present moment, I’ll keep Liz HK’s orchid in mind.
…And now, when I am inches away, I’ll breathe in slowly and savour the aroma.