CLEAR CANVAS

YUCAY, SACRED VALLEY OF THE INCAS, CUSCO-PERU:

 I woke up more rested this morning and a bit anxious as I lay in bed for a while. I couldn’t understand the feelings of emptiness I was experiencing.

I finished reading ‘The Alchemist’, by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho; the story of a Spanish shepherd boy who had a dream of finding a treasure at the pyramids of Egypt. A gypsy woman and a king advised him to pursue it in order “to realize one’s destiny’s only obligation”.

 What resonated for me in the final chapter:  “The boy turned to the hand that wrote all. As he did so, he sensed that the universe had fallen silent, and he decided not to speak.  A current of love rushed from his heart, and the boy began to pray. It was a prayer that he had never said before, because it was a prayer without words or pleas.”

 As I walked around Betty’s Pashnawasy’s yard, I stopped in silent prayer. I became absorbed with the activity that surrounded me:  chickens and ducks pecking for bugs, apples lying on the ground from the trees above, guinea pigs full of activity. Once I stopped to appreciate the beauty around me, my heart became more serene and peaceful.

 This morning I realized I did not have to react to my heart’s anxiousness in a confused manner, but to be aware that the feeling of emptiness was because I was starting the day with a blank canvas that waits to be painted. I first needed to be connected to the hand that wrote all, in silent prayer without words or pleas. My heart’s brush strokes to life my canvas from the day’s activities.

 Jose, live from the Sacred Valley