lifetimes.  purpose. 

 

005

this being surprised me two summers ago on the grape vine.  there was only one. and s(he)  very efficiently ate most all of the leaves, but left the grapes untouched. 

some lives of some beings are very focused and in my terms, short.   i am thinking about my own life.  all of it so far and what i imagine might be remaining of it. 

i think it is going to change quite a bit.  interesting…how some things have SOME meaning for so long and then all of a sudden, because of seemingly unrelated events, acquire so much more meaning that we did not notice, or, did not really see before????  fully apprehend…i like that word, apprehend. 

the Tai Chi is working.  it's working way more and way better than i had imagined it could.  which has caused me to think about why this might be.  some of you might remember me writing about one of my most loved friends Dora who, in my early 30's, i would watch do her Tai Chi forms while we waited in a very large empty room together.  i talked about her small figure in her black  uniform.  her white hair with a silver hair clasp.  the numbers tattooed on her arm from her girlhood in Dachau.  how i would often find myself with a thread of saliva dangling from my chin because i would be so mesmerized by her, her movements, her etherial beauty that i would forget to swallow.  she was           old      then.  in her 80's. 

in the past, i tried to learn Tai Chi.  but i am akward and i found it very hard to coordinate the movements and i was embarassed.  i quit.  This particular class i am involved in now, is taught by a woman i have known in a very superficial way for a while.  she does a few things…fitness training, and hypnotherapy are two.  she works out of the new to this little town of Socorro Wellness Center.  I'd read in our little newspaper how she had gotten funding through some federal grant to teach Tai Chi to women of "a certain age" as part of a study of the benefits of Tai Chi with balance, osteoporosis, general well being, etc.  at the time i didn't pay much attention, really.  Well, here i am.

and i have the feeling that a LOT is going to change.  not only will the thing with the sciatic nerve be healed, but many things that i don't even know might be healed.  it is a group of sometimes up to 10 women, all kinds,  and i find that the Ego that caused me to quit before has since been dropped as useless baggage and i just do the best i can.  i am still akward.  but i don't care.  each time i go, i fine tune some little thing and i am learning.  getting some small thing right.  today, as i stitched the daughter cloth, those endless invisible baste stitches, i realized how similar this was to the Tai Chi, how similar learning Tai Chi is to stitching.  it is a deep inner attention for the well being of the Whole.   somehow.  Chi.  LifeForce.  the buddhists have always told me that i need to be so grateful to have born as a human being.  born to a circumstance where you can contemplate these things.  for some months now, i have been reading Mind of Clear Light   Advice on Dying and Living a Better Life by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 

somehow, all these things are slowly swirling into somekind of constellation.  just the Time in my life,  the sudden injury to my body that changed everything for a while,  the more than usual concern with the changes in North Africa, the Middle East as a whole, the great grief for the devastation in Japan and whether or not it can be seen for all that it means to the planet as a whole.  and               what is my place in all this?  is it important at all?  i am looking, feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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34 responses to “lives”

  1. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    I’m thinking through some things myself,and what you are writing at the moment sparks off some changes for me – maybe! Keep to that tai qi, grace.

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  2. KaiteM. Avatar

    think and feel global, then act local.

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  3. judy keathley Avatar

    i’m listening, grace….

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  4. Deb G Avatar

    Grace, just wanted to say that I came, and read (at least 3 or 4 times) and went away and came back and read again. And am thinking…

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  5. Valerianna Avatar

    Hi Grace, wonderful! I used to practice Tai Chi- for about a year, it was good. Better for me , now, is my practice of a women’s qigong routine. Its amazing. It has helped my back tremendously. Its only about a ten minute routine – gentle movement/stretching and breathing. It is specifically designed to nourish the organs and support women’s reproductive health. I notice amazing things. If I’m diligent, things flow on time, if I’m not diligent, things get a bit whacky… its quite something to watch!
    Glad its working for you…. many blessings, Valerianna

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  6. Cristina Ortega Avatar

    of course it is important. all encompassing important.
    even the smallest event, triggers/ripples forward, causing
    a new happening, which bumps into another life event
    and on. . . things happen for reason.
    your tai chi event is quietly rippling outward connecting with life’s
    surprises yet to occur… those new treasure chest discoveries.
    … wonderful to hear of your mindful and physical mending, grace.

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  7. deanna7trees Avatar

    so happy to hear you’re on the mend and moving forward in so many ways. i had no doubts that this would be. i have always been mesmerized by the groups of people in parks and gardens doing tai chai, all in unison, like they were part of a whole. i have been trying to find a tai chi class in my part of town for several years but have not yet been successful. there is talk that the acupuncture center is moving close by and will give tai chi classes so there is hope that it will happen soon.
    the color of that worm is so close to the color of the grapes that i did not see it until i zoomed in. how kind of him/her to leave you the grapes.

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  8. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    deanna…i think this is a relatively new wave of offering
    Tai Chi through various outlets as a means of preventive
    effort and so am guessing that maybe your local Acupuncture center will offer much the same…but as we know, i guess a lot depends on who the instructor is. this woman is really great. and it is because of her own LOVE of what she does…she is so HAPPY about it all and
    so able to let each individual come into it at their own
    level.
    this beautiful worm…yes…it was BIG…like a large
    tomatoe worm…but took so long for me to see it on the vine…isn’t it just amazing???? how perfectly tuned s(he)
    is to the color of the grapes and the pattern of the vine??
    i would love to know sometime what her other form is….
    there should be a book of caterpillars.
    and just as it is with the tomatoe worms…HOW IS IT that
    the moths/butterflies are able to locate the maybe ONE
    plant in miles around that they need for their process???
    no one else around that i know of has this kind of grape
    vine?????? and i have only two vines. How did she find
    these???????
    ok..off to stitch…
    i will look forward to hearing if you find Tai Chi.
    xo

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  9. Herm Avatar
    Herm

    my DH is wondering if this is possibly the caterpillar stage of a butterfly or moth — yes, i’m sure this Tai Chi will help you relieve the pain, don’t worry about coordination, it comes later with practice. I take Yoga and have also DVD for the winter months, need to keep moving!!!

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  10. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    herm…yes, it IS definately a butterfly or moth…but i don’t know
    which one…
    and i suddenly thought…we have a guy called the BugMan who writes
    a column for the Albuquerque Journal about insects and how to
    live in peace with them while not “bugging” each other…i will
    send him a copy of the pic and he will tell me. will report
    my findings to you and your dear man. made me smile that he was
    looking at this with you. nice.

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  11. Terri Avatar
    Terri

    I look forward to hearing what you find out on the caterpiller. It is the most unusual and beautiful one I’ve ever seen! And your words, grace. Flow so wonderfully like I always remember them. LOVE this post.

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  12. Wendy Avatar

    I have been working on thoughts about the way caterpillars (and in my case, one special katydid) changed my perspective on the web of life; especially about how that web ignores (exceeds?) all of the conventional boundaries. Just a beautiful and resonant post Grace, thank you.
    And, Your caterpillar companion is most certainly a Sphinx moth; they look like tiny hummingbirds. They are awesome. She’s maybe this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darapsa_choerilus

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  13. Terri Avatar
    Terri

    Pandora Sphinx Moth maybe, it looks reddish in some of the images and it feeds on grape leaves. Love that it is a “Pandora” moth. How fitting is that. Pandora Sphinx Moth, whole name is too cool!!

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  14. jude hill Avatar

    i think you are where you are but perhaps you have a new point of view about that, i feel tai chi is very related to training yourself to know where you are, to be aware of that place, to balance on it. so i think maybe your wondering is related somehow to your new sense of place.

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  15. deanna7trees Avatar

    Austin has had tai chi classes for many, many years but not on my side of town. i’m not willing to travel 30-40 minutes across town with all the traffic. my acupuncturist says that the tai chi teacher at the center is a master and is highly recommended.
    as far as the grape caterpillar, it seems that synchronicity exists among the caterpillar world. they are put in touch with what they need for their existence.

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  16. Martine Avatar

    everything at its own time……. i feel i can only learn something if the time is right for me.
    Then i must stay with it, hold onto.
    I’m so glad this moving meditation is good for you.
    XXXm

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  17. handstories Avatar

    grace, reading & reading this, haven’t found the words yet, but it’s causing something to brew. been feeling like i’m running into walls this week, but maybe they’re really doors, or passage ways…thanks.

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  18. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i will. it is very clear that it is the right thing

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  19. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    ahhhh, Kaite. the first nuclear bomb that was used ON
    Japan was tested not that far down the road from me.
    pretty local.

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  20. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i’m only talking…wondering.
    what do YOU think? about anything at all?

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  21. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    you are such a oh so excellent young thing.

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  22. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    good to verify. yes. i don’t mind if my forms take
    a long time. there are 24 in all. am learning only 8
    right now. i am wanting them to be a chunk of my day.

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  23. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    looking forward to hearing how it was in Albuquerque
    yesterday??????????????

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  24. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    yes…the “boundries” do not apply. in the least.
    it’s what reassures me endlessly…since i was a kid

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  25. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    this is a very large thought. i have held it all since
    and still. a very large thought.

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  26. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    hold. i like that word/thought
    hold to something

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  27. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    i have a recurring dream. it’s one of the house dreams.
    and i think i have found my way from room to room,
    passage by passage and then suddenly, a door or hallway
    appears that i had not seen before and going down it, i
    find a whole almost like uhhhhh, well….a LOT. rooms
    corridors, courtyards.
    your words reminded me of this

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  28. KaiteM. Avatar

    TypePad HTML Email
    yes, too local to be able to ignore.

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  29. judy keathley Avatar

    i don’t know what i think. i know i am being quiet. not sure where to put thoughts right now. i can’t seem to catch the thoughts. they tumble around & step over each other . & i get confused about what to say & so i say nothing. i am so moved by the work –the stitching & the living of life that i observe here — i get overwhelmed—how does one keep up….
    maybe i’m just pondering….. feeling my way ….. here in this community …..& in my at home life …..
    see. a bunch of words —but not saying much…
    ya know ,grace, part of it is this is all new to me . i can’t find my flow yet ….everyone is open & welcoming —but still trying to find where i fit ….
    a bit melancholy …..
    a lightening of my heart will come …..
    so glad you are there —& that you are feeling better—
    yeah –the practice ( tai chi ) is one thing —-the practitioner is the other—all the difference—so glad you’ve found both…
    love…
    but on a little more down to earth note—-i’m so glad you are feeling better.

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  30. judy keathley Avatar

    that last line seemed to have disappeared —then reappeared —so i said it twice .
    how bout number three—so glad you’re feeling better. i truly mean it.

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  31. Patty M Avatar

    Your posts make me think of Annie Dillard’s books. She sways between
    attention to self then to her environment. Back and forth. Then, a conversation begins between the sway, the continuing conversation between the two perspectives, between and without words. It teaches, this new conversation.
    I think you’re in a transformation-an important one.

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  32. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    Patty…thank you for this … it helped me know
    something that i couldn’t put my finger on.

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  33. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar

    judy…don’t pay any attention to me sometimes, or all the time. sometimes i just Say things….
    i am glad that you find yourself here sometimes.
    quietly.
    love back to you

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  34. Cristina Ortega Avatar

    well.
    it wasn’t what i expected. no cloth. very small.
    however, many knitted, woven, crocheted and
    felted pieces. beautiful, textural art!
    and it wasn’t at the state fair grounds.

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