Excerpt from A Soprano on Her Head

I like this book! =D

On hiking... and life

How strange to realise that something so natural had come as a revelation. It was obvious from obseving the people we met that I was not alone in my lack of insight. Only when they stop to catch their breath was it permissible for most hikers to enjoy the scenery and the sunshine and the tingle in the air. Then back they went into over-directing their feet, step-by-step, monotonously wending their way to some chosen destination above... I realised how dangerous a destination can be. If we put our energies only into getting our destination or reaching our goal, we block our sensibilities along theway. We pretend that arriving is of utmost importance, and put our mind to work overtime in seeing that we get there. Once there, alas, the habis of the journey remain, and we soon spoil our enjoyment with plotting the next stretch or the return trip.

We often give our minds too exclusive a role in the mind/body relationship. Our senses play ever less responsible roles, like children who become convinced that mother really does know best and thus lose their capacity for growth...

How often in life do we do the same kind of eyes-down plodding with an over-abundance of directional information from our minds: careful, now, to say the right things in that job interview... don;t make those exciting plans unless you're sure you can follow through... better be careful abou this new friendship... careful, careful, watch your step, don't stumble, keep your eyes on the trail. We accept this tyranny because it is so familiar. Authority figures all along the way have trained us all too well. Small wonder that our minds take over the authority role in constantly dictating our bodies...

When we over-look, over-try, over-instruct in our lives, we do the same ankle-twisting stumbling. We miss the essence of the experience as a constant discovery, a consciousness of being, a journey with a view of peaks and far horizons rather than a necessary trudge along a dusty pathway. When we wake up our awareness, we become like a mustang galloping above a canyon rather than a workhourse stumbling along with blinders, guided by the presumed expertise of the mind-master. This does not mean tat we can abandon the mental proceses so necessary in learning. It is more that we create a mutually supportive team, a partnership of mind and body...

-"Journey with a View", from A Soprano On Her Head by Eloise Ristad