east meets west

a little before 6:00 this morning i woke up. at first i thought it was annoying. helloooo…. this is vacation. I should be sleeping late. then i realized that I could go outside instead of just laying in bed, thinking & waiting for others to wake. so i grabbed my camera (a must have. always.) and headed out the door, down to the dock, & sat down to meditate. perfect.

i sat facing the east so i could see the rest of the already happening sunrise. as I began just letting my thoughts go wherever they wanted, i started thinking about the directions east & west. as i sat facing east, i thought about religions who revere the east as a holy direction, a way to face the center of our core being. then I thought about my place in the world. my perspective, based on my location throughout my whole life.

until this past year, nc has been the center of my world, my starting point. everything else has been east, west, south, or north of me. to the east, lay europe, africa, the middle east – the place where my faith was born. the home of holiness to me. to the east, I felt, was where I could connect with my soul – my ancestors (whether those more recent ones from great britain, or those ancient ones from early christianity and early civilizations). the east felt like a memory of home – albeit a home i’d never visited. if i wanted to know who i was, who all humans are, then i simply needed to look to the east. there lies all of our history. there lies our connectedness. yes, the east is my historical home. where my soul was born. so to face the east in the morning is to reconnect with who i have been created to be.

but what about the west? i love the west, and all things west of me. as i sat thinking this morning, i didn’t want to make the west the “bad brother” to the “good sister” the east. but, i couldn’t help but feel the wildness, the carefree spirit of the west. the west is an adventure, and it’s a little more self-centered perhaps. from my perspective in this world, the west is a less tame & a little more individualistic, less civilized, more natural, wild place. the desert. the mountain. and the west has always peaked my interest as much as the east. i want to head west. i need to head west. i must wander, have adventures, discover myself outside of others. my soul needs the carefree spontaneity of the west.

the longer i sat this morning, the more i realized that the east & the west are complimentary twins. i need both. I yearn for both. i want to look backwards and forwards. i need the balance. we need the balance. i need to look to the east, discover who i am & from where i’ve come. i need to look to the west, discover who i am & where i’m going.

meditate and dream. old and new. east and west. everything touches my soul. every place, every moment makes me who i am.

peace.