photo of me riding down "The Long Hill" - by Emmy Strong
The morning begins, as many do these days, in chaos. When I feel this scattered, I jump on my bike and ride ten miles or so. This helps me get into my body, into a rhythm, slowing my mind and allowing scattered thoughts to settle into cohesiveness. Lately however, even this is a challenge.
Today I almost got blown off the road by two tractor-trailer trucks passing at high speed on our narrow stretch of highway. Although the shoulder is adequate (why the Ironman Triathalon is held on this side of the island), the turbulence created by that passing causes my heart to flutter and my gut to sink to my feet. Survival mode kicks in, I breathe, focus, continue my trajectory. All is well until I reach tiny Hawi town, where tourists swarm and car doors spring open sans forethought. Meanwhile, passing cars try and navigate two crosswalks and numerous ice cream-licking jaywalkers. I continually practice a Qi Gong exercise designed to ground and protect me, and it does help. But I’ve never done it virtually continuously until today. Next stop, Kapa’au, where a minivan veers toward me with no oncoming traffic threat. My skin prickles. Shake it off, keep on going.
Sometimes I feel like a magnet, whether cyclist or driver, and I understand how trying to avoid something sometimes leads to its opposite. I think of quantum physics’ Law of Attraction, that we move toward where we place our attention. Then at the end of my ride, before heading up The Long Hill toward home, two cars intersect – one turning, the other speeding up – just as I try and make the turn to give myself a bit of oomph up that grade. I can count on three fingers the times this has occurred in the six years we’ve lived in this location.
I consider the old advertisement, Is it me, or is it Memorex? Sometimes I am truly given to wonder. And I know this has an explanation in science, most recently revealed in this experiment where seeds are planted with “love” and “hate” or “you’re ugly” written on their containers. The ugly seeds really do grow into little Gollum-like creatures, while the loved ones flourish. With this in mind, is my own inner turmoil projecting out into the world, attracting all the psychos on the street? Or am I picking up on the general chaos out there and it’s affecting my ability to remain anchored? I never really know, but I suspect it’s a bit of both.
You sound like you’re describing a scene in the northeast rather than in Hawaii. It’s hard to believe that a place of such beauty could be so stressful. AND you were not wearing a helmet! Please be safe: it’s not you, but the other bikers and cars you have to be careful of.
Ronnie
Aloha Ronnie – thanks for thinking of my safety.
Life can be challenging at times, no matter where we are, I guess! And I know so many people who are experiencing chaos these days – so thought I’d write about it in my own little corner of the world. By the way, my last post was about the magic and peace that can be found here, for sure.
Glad to see you 😉
Once when I lived up North, near Yukon, I bought a trail bike so I could pedal my way through exploration trails in the wilds. When I first got the bike, I’d be flying along the trail and would see a big rock in the middle of the road. I’d think, “Don’t hit the rock!” I’d hit it. It happened with holes, stumps, and loose gravel. I had to change my thinking to, “I’m going around that…”
It was so profound, I could hardly believe it. I believe in the L of Attaction – by all means! 😀
Yes, like I said in the post, I’ve been on both sides of the cyclist/driver equation, and it’s frightening to think how close I’ve come in the past to cyclists when trying ‘not to.’ So changing my thinking has definitely been effective and instructive! Amazing stuff, quantum physics! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Nice post Bela. You are great. !!!
Thanks Michael! 😀
Nice post Bela, and the last of my mornings reads so I am off into the farm now with that wonderful image of you on your bike, careening off down the road! just keep on pedalling honey, sometimes that is the best thing to do! Good morning! c
Yes, Cecilia, I’m sure you stay plenty grounded with all the hands-on animal stuff and cooking – those work for me as well 😉 And readers who haven’t checked out her blog – now’s the time! So much fun!!
This is an incredibly thought provoking post, Bela, and I would like to acknowledge you for that. You have so beautifully linked Quantum physics concepts to a perspective of our daily lives. When I think of this, I get increasingly drawn to that elusive concept of an Universal consciousness which could lead us to that elusive Unified theory of the Universe. Maybe this is the way forward for the world to move beyond Einstein! Cheers Shakti
Shakti, thank you. And this is what I love about quantum physics – that a cursory understanding of it IS such a powerful catalyst in transforming the way we view the world in our everyday lives. Cheers!
Hi Bela,
As I had remarked earlier, I was motivated to write on Consciousness and here it is:
http://esgeemusings.com/2012/02/15/entropy-and-the-age-of-consciousness/
Love to get your views.
Cheers
Shakti
Shakti, I went to your page and read the post – it’s great – highly recommended!
OOh… I wonder if that seed experiment was the one from my blog.. It gave me the goosebumps today, ’cause I was just getting ready to write about the “Quantum Physics” behind the experiment. Clearly the universe brought me here for a reason. I think the Law of A exists, but do you think there are other laws as well that govern the runnings (?) of our lives and this universe… I think there may be more.
OH MY GOSH YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!! I saw the post somewhere – then never was able to Google and get it again, once I decided to write the post. Thank YOU so much for finding ME!! Wow, now I can credit you with the experiment!
Blessings and salutations – and so happy to be connected!
And yes – of course there must be more laws that order the Universe, or it wouldn’t be deemed The Mystery, don’t you think? 😉
I finally posted my quantum physics update – wonder what you think of it. We are swimming in a quantum soup? http://wp.me/p1ZZWh-7q
Thanks much for sharing that update. So happy to be connected to you!
What an insight from a routine morning ride! – A combination of Quantum Physics’ Law of Attraction and Dalai Lama’s ‘….even my thoughts have the power to heal or harm’.
May I add, the photograph is fabulous.
By the way, my virus protection software, McAfee prevented me from seeing the link at the bottom. Is there any other link?
Good morning, Idealist Thinker! Nice to see you’ve joined the conversation. Happy you’ve found insight in the post. And glad you like the photo as well. Sorry you couldn’t follow the link. Here’s the entire thing, hope you can see it here – it’s a great video!
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/883107/quantum_physics_explains_law_of_attraction/