I was watching the sun light fade and night fall around us in the stable
yard tonight... thinking about those "in between" times and spaces and
ideas. Instead of just being black or white, the gray areas of dusk and
dawn; of the beach between the hills and the sea; of life and what we
call death. All of these are not just transitions, but places in their
own right with a reality to be experienced, certainly, if not savored.
I
also see the value of the dynamic approaches of horsemanship styles.
And the multiple ways in which good health is preserved by natural
methods. Those in between places serve to blend ideas and make useful
all manner of things we might miss with a rigid mind-set. I love using
Australian saddles for my riding lessons and I tell students that they
are like a combination between western and english styles.
My
Mother used to say she put sugar in her tea to make it sweet and lemon
to make it sour, but the combination was better than either. The in
between places are of blending and easing from one thing to another. The
in between places are where we can linger, experiencing that gentle
shift.
From this life to the next life is an in between place
where I think elderly beings visit and sometimes linger when deep in
sleep or daydreaming. Spring eases us into summer; autumn eases us into
winter.
If we are going to climb to 14,000 feet, we linger at
8,000, then 10,000 feet, making an in between place to adjust to the
altitude.
So, I wonder why we would expect such immediate, total
obedience from an animal, a person or ourselves when faced with a change
or a task? Depending upon the degree of the shift and how much change
is required, there needs to be an in between place where the transition
can flow with grace. When that cannot happen and a sudden or violent
shift occurs, it is shocking and that shock will need to be addressed
one way or another later on.
Being decisive is powerful. Being
decisive is clear and planned and directed. It can be immediate in its
application from the space of transitioning, but cannot act like the
cracking end of a whip that then ricochets aimlessly. The in between
place holds the form of the concept, decision or path and allows its
unfolding without interruption or distortion. It may only hold it for a
moment or it may hold the form for years.
My Mother likes limes
and mint in her tea now. I ride and school horses in bitless bridles. We
leave giant Yuccas in our turn out (that also serves as an arena)
because we like Yuccas (and riding a circle around a giant "cactus" will
sure keep a rider from leaning inward!) and the area becomes a kind of
transition place between the round pen and riding out on the trail. An
in between place...
We kind of "ride between worlds" at Dharmahorse;
taking what we find the best from many styles and methodologies in
horsemanship and in healing. And we help horses and people shift gently
from place to place; idea to idea. The world is full of possibilities.
