“For years, I’ve learned more from watching the X Games and surfing documentaries
than from reading dharma (and mindfulness) books”, I told Teddi Dean after the Sunday
Sangha where he offers meditation practice and discussion. Given my conversations
with him during my workshops in Baja, I knew he would understand that I wasn’t being
flippant, disrespecting the more than five decades I have spent reading, attending
retreats and listening to teachers from multiple spiritual traditions. It’s that moving from a
conceptual understanding to a lived experience is what the deep journey of a full life
calls for.
I’m a seventy-two year old woman who has never been on a board of any sort – skate,
surf or snow. 15 years ago, I stood mesmerized at a half pipe skateboard event at the
New Mexico State Fair and later was speechless while watching my first surfing
documentary. Those peak experiences changed me, pulling together a lifetime of
spiritual practice – phrases like ‘wholehearted commitment’ and ‘practice’ and
‘renunciation’ transformed from elevated ideas to incarnation in a human life.
When I watched the skaters and BMX riders at the recently televised summer X Games,
I felt the explosive power as they dropped in, holding nothing back. Fiercely committed,
fully present, letting go of all distractions, including their past attempts and whether
they’ll end up on the podium. Doing it as though their life depends on their practice –
which it does.
The quality of my life depends on embodying those same praxes – likely yours, too. An
essential (midlife) task is breaking open illusions and dissolving static ways of viewing
and engaging with the world. As with all teachers, I bow to the generations of skaters
and riders and surfers who, knowingly or not, share their fierce commitment and
courage with anyone who has the ears and eyes and heart to learn. Through the
example of their embodied wisdom, I am embracing the expansiveness of this season
of elderhood.
Sharon Colby, a MEA alumni, loves connecting the dots from seemingly unrelated fields
and activities to discover new insights and ways of experiencing the world. She
embraces the adventure of writing flash nonfiction, and essays anchored in her career
as an organization development consultant, coach, and trainer of group facilitators.
This spring I was in Baja for Navigating Transitions in April and Marking Change: Using
Nature, Creativity, and Ritual to Navigate Life’s Transitions in May.