Dear Reader,
We have had a busy weekend here in Shetland. The Tall Ship Races came to Lerwick, including fifty-three tall ships moored in the harbor with over 2,000 crew members. A festival honoring the boats involved 500 musicians performing on a variety of outdoor stages throughout the weekend. The event was truly breathtaking.
Today, the boats left. The tall ships are off on the next leg of the race, from Lerwick to Stavanger, Norway. Our harbor is quiet, and feels a bit empty.
I went for a walk along the water this morning and watched as everything was taken down. Performance tents were dis-assembled and wooden frames were unscrewed. Walkways that were full of people yesterday were barricaded today. On the boats, crew members gathered gear in a misting rain, uncovered equipment and untied ropes in preparation to unmoor.
Completion.
Do you pay attention to how your projects end, dear reader? Sometimes they feel a little sad, or full with accomplishment and growth, or exuberant with success, or perhaps unsatisfying and unfulfilled. Paying attention to how things end is very, very important.
Endings inform the quiet time between projects. Lessons learned and insights gained arise in that stillness, and if you don’t pay attention to the previous ending, you may not know how or where to start anew.
I enjoyed my morning walk, taking in all the feelings of completion. Perhaps I pay special attention to the way these events end because of my background in the performing arts. How many small performances have I been part of in which the dancers didn’t just get to go home after the audience left, but were called on to pack the costumes and props, strike the set and lights, sweep the stage and lock the door behind them on the way out?
It is important to include the ending in your vision of any project, and even more important to allow yourself to register all the feelings that arise when your project ends. The last step is as important as the first in allowing your heart to inform your mind of all you have experienced – what you gave of yourself, what you held dear along the way and what personal obstacles you overcame to finish.
Do this, and you will be rewarded, after some quiet time to reflect, with a truthful vision of that next first step, that first glimmering of an idea leading who knows where…
I honor your loving heart,
John
Good Morning!
Taking part in you challenge. From City Living to organic farming and now introducing roof top farming to Asia. I am very aware of cycles, but in so doing, have forgotten to note the completion of things… and the personal growth that takes place, time for reflection while digging in the dirt….on so many levels! Thanks
(ps I have turned Bee Keeping into a performance Art;-))
Hi Diane – I’m glad you are part of the challenge; I hope you are having a Year of Excellence so far! It sounds like you are really staying open to the process with your project. So often when we are open and willing to listen to our intuition in starting a project, we have little idea of what the later version may look like – for example, roof top farming in Asia. Congrats for following the process wherever it leads – keep us posted!
John