On Openness + Devotion

There’s an innocence to topless sunbathing in the midst of a Pandemic. 

Something akin to an ancient and timeless malaise has shrouded our days, so one will do almost anything to feel hopeful and alive again. 

Unencumbered by clothing, I greet the Sun.  “Hello, Sweet Friend.  I’ve missed you.  Kiss me?”  And, He does, without hesitation or reservation. 

Hot breath on my neck, he presses his warmth into my chest and I surrender, promising…”I’ll never make you wait this long again.”

I sit so quietly I can hear my own heart beating.  A steady, rhythmic drum of undefined purpose.  A simple insistence on existence.  

I tell Her, “I’m finally ready to listen.”

I’m learning to love this liminal space and all it has uncovered. The quiet longings that still surface just beyond existential dread. 

It is there, in this presence of body and alertness of spirit that I now imbibe - knowing that my perception has always been my reality. 

Is it now that I begin to perceive differently?  More acutely? 

Isn’t it always in the throes of pleasure that we make our most flowery and embellished of promises? 

“From this moment forward….and always...always...”

So, I ask, “Will you, Sweet Sun, promise to forgive me when I forget to greet you?”

And, “Precious Heart, can you vow to keep speaking, even when I distractedly chide, ‘Not now’..”

Time and again, 

I promise to return to Openness, because of your Devotion. 

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.