Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Walking the Labyrinth
I moved to Waldo County one and one half years ago. I moved here for love. I am from away -- New York City and Los Angeles. In Newport, Rhode Island, where I lived for four years caring for my aging father, my 26 Irish Catholic cousins called me an LA chick. They laughed and rolled on the floor when I said I was moving to rural Maine, although they approved of my Morrillian boyfriend. I myself had doubts about this new adventure.
This is what I have discovered: I love Waldo County. I love living in a community where there are more cows, horses, and deer than there are people, a community where folks have a deep relationship to the land, whether it's through farming, hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, horseback riding, kayaking or biking. I feel connected to the people because we share something in common -- the trees, the weather, the stars, the moon. When I lived in New York I never even noticed the moon.
Last week, I was invited by some friends to the "opening" or "blessing" of a labyrinth designed by a friend on a grassy slope on his land. What he did was let the grass grow long and then mow the serpentine curves that make up a labyrinth. I was thrilled to be part of this blessing since I am fond of labyrinths, having walked them in France and California. It was a beautiful spring day -- blue skies, moderate temperatures -- when the assembled group began to walk the labyrinth.
I set out slowly, as I had been trained to do -- treating the walk like a meditation -- taking one deliberate step after another. My 21-year-old son walked the labyrinth in front of me, as he had done when he was seven years old in Santa Barbara, California. What a satisfying way to experience the land, walking slowly, observing the birds, the nearby pond, the creatures, the other human beings.
When I got to the middle of the labyrinth and turned around, I had a moment of panic. Where was the way out? What happened if the path did not lead me back? How would I find my way home? I started laughing, remembering the lesson of the labyrinth -- put one foot in front of the other, trust the path, believe in the journey and you will be delivered home. And so I was. And so I have been brought home to Waldo County.
For more information about labyrinths:
- http://www.lessons4living.com/
- http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/
- www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth (medieval studies department)
- http://www.labyrinthcompany.com/ (company that makes and sells labyrinths)
posted by kathrinseitz at 8:19 PM
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