Seven Minutes Under the Canopy of Stars

First lines from “How Do I Love You?” by Marion Dane Bauer

“How do I love you? Let me count the ways. 

I love you as the sun loves the bright, blue days…”

I stepped outside briefly as Tony was putting the little ones to bed. Usually I do it but tonight John was asking for him. I have been reading In the Absence of Ordinary  by Francis Weller. The reflective and soothing nature of the writing goes to a deep place of resonance in my soul as it talks about functions of the soul through grief, change and other experiences in a melodic writing style that feels like soothing medicine. 

There are a few places in the book that encourage certain challenges called “soul work.” I enjoy challenges like this and try to complete them whenever possible. With the children being put to bed not by me this time, I thought I could complete Mr. Weller’s challenge to “take some time under the canopy of stars” and reflect on it. I set my timer for 15 minutes. I only made it through seven before I got interrupted with the kids wanting me to take over bedtime but oh well, seven minutes of bliss was enough for me (not really, I’m just pretending to be happy.)

During the seven minutes (before I got interrupted), I laid out my yoga mat under the nearly full moon and laid down on my back. The moon itself seemed to twinkle and move and the air was cool, almost to the point of me desiring a blanket. It doesn’t take long for me to receive impressions– from God, universe, self, it’s not always clear. Deep intuition maybe. Sometimes I just wish there would be nothing and no thoughts, completely silent and still state of being but that is rarely the case for me. A meditation practice has been great for training mindfulness and dealing with a highly active mind but it certainly doesn’t make all the thoughts go away. 

“How do I love you? Let me count the ways. I love you as the sun loves the bright blue days.” These lines from a beloved children’s book I have enjoyed reading to my kids came to me immediately. Being said to me? By God? Or maybe myself to myself. It seems like someone wanted to wrap me up in a hug. 

There were more sp

ecific impressions that unfolded into my consciousness that I wrote down in my notes app during my brief time outside that I’m going to process privately, but I wanted to share this practice with anyone who is out there reading. Maybe you’ll try it; maybe you’ll get something out of it. 

Maybe you’ll get more than seven minutes.