ready as a mangrove propagule

Frank and I walked the length of Long Beach today, and what can I say - it is a long beach.

Merimbula Bay from Pambula Beach

When we got back we discovered we'd walked almost twelve kilometres. Sore legs reign in our apartment this evening! (And unbelievably we have blisters on our heels from all that bare foot walking)

I couldn't help noticing the mangrove seedlings strewn across the length of the beach. Wherever the high tide had reached, there lay a seedling or two. To be more precise, what we were seeing were black mangrove propagules, live seedlings dropped from the trees already equipped for photosynthesis. All they require is a suitable landing place above the tide, and within seven days roots are established and the mangrove is off and growing. Ingenious.

I'm still to set my goals for the year (distracted by a twelve kilometre walk I suppose), but the mangrove propagules gave me some inspiration. I have an overall aim in life, and generally my daily grind is helping me achieve it, but there's always room for improvement.

Today I found another broad goal for the year... to be like a black mangrove propagule. People and experiences have equipped me well for going and growing, and I know what I want to do. Right now, 2011 is a blank slate. I'll still be working the same jobs, but there are plenty of longings and dreams and unknowns floating around in my mind. Who knows what might come along? And if or when it does, I want to grab the chance, like the mangrove propagules. They don't always get it right (a beach isn't such a great place to land), but when they hit the perfect habitat, they're ready. Roots down, they're set. Growing and doing that thing mangroves do.

I guess that means 2011 is my year of being an opportunist... from that quiet place of reflection and awareness, I'll be ready to move as soon as the opportunity arises. Well, that's the goal anyway!

(What do you know - that's two goals for the year already!)

lingering over crabs

This is a little bit crazy, but at first I thought it was the mangrove seedlings snapping their leaves together. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the movement, but (try as I might to catch them at it) as soon as I turned, all was still. A few steps further and Frank pointed them out - an army of crabs scurrying sideways down their holes as we trod the board walk above their heads.

Pied Oystercatcher, Top Lake, Merimbula NSW

Given the birds who lurked nearby, on the hunt for tasty morsels, the crab's dash for safety was understandable, though some gamely continued to shovel sand with their pincers, one eye on us, one on their food, sifting the sand at furious speed.

Spotted Smooth Shore Crab, intertidal zone of Top Lake, Merimbula NSW

With no schedule to keep, we lingered a while, marvelling at the agility and speed of the crabs, their diversity of size, shape and colour, while others walked on by. Couldn't they see the crabs? we wondered. Had they stopped and stared earlier? Is it possible that, while we marvelled, they just weren't interested? Here a world of crabs were putting on a fabulous display as they went about their business, and people didn't even look.

Not that I'm the world's most mindful person. I imagine I miss a lot in my not-paying-attention rush. What beauty or insight lingers in the shadows of my awareness? If I slowed down, would I discover treasures to feed my soul and calm the angst, treasures like crabs in the mud on a cloudy summer's day?

New year resolutions are not my forte, not because I don't keep them. I just don't make them. Instead I prefer broad goals, although I don't even get to them a lot of the time, mostly because I don't take the time to reflect. I'm too busy doing things, which makes me think those crabs have something to teach me. About slowing down, taking time, paying attention, taking notice.

This all resonates with a quote I read this morning.

Contemplation can be defined as paying attention. It is about a way of seeing. We live in a world today where we are deluged with information. The emails come in. The mobiles ring. A text here. A website there. Excited by the process, we can all too easily become people who are skimming over the surface of life. John Naish has described our condition as infobesity, seeing it as a different sort of fatness and producing profound stress. There is a sense that we need to slow down, to settle and pay attention to things in a new sort of way.

Chris Sunderland, The Dream that inspired the Bible

Stopping and noticing things, contemplating nature - all provide a path from information overload to peace. I don't want to rush through life unobserved, and I could do without unnecessary stress.

There are probably a few other 2011 goals I need to make, but this seems a good place to start - a commitment to slowing down and taking notice. And who knows, perhaps everything else will flow naturally from this stillness.

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In the interests of sharing my mindfulness moment, here's a photo chock full of crabs... pause if you like, and see how many you find. Or just admire the mangrove pneumatophores.

The world is an amazing place, that is for sure!

uncover this!

The last assignment is uploaded for marking, the online quiz complete - time to let the hair down a little and enjoy the good things on offer!

So we went to a performance by a local youth dance company called Stompin'. The setting was a cul-de-sac in a local suburb, where we huddled together against the cool breeze and gave ourselves over to the dance and its themes.

Uncover this! (Part 2) was an exploration of those things we choose to expose to people around us and the effect this has. Starting one hundred metres up the street we journeyed beyond people doing every day public things, riding bikes, hanging washing, checking for mail while car stereos broadcast music into the street. In the cul-de-sac we reached a place of intimacy and closeness where dancers interacted with each other, cars, lights, nature strips and wheelie bins to create a sense of the tensions and connections created by sharing oneself with another.

The show was energetic and vibrant, entertaining but also thought provoking, touching on themes common to us all. It stimulated the audience to consider their own lives and relationships, inviting them to thoughtfully uncover their true every day selves on the path to real (but not easy) connections.

I wish you could have been there too, because it was a great performance and no blog post I write can really do it justice.