10 years ago my husband and I moved from the Chicago area to the Minneapolis area. We loved Chicago (my husband grew up there) but the time was right for us to leave. We came to Minneapolis because it was halfway between Chicago and northern Minnesota (where I grew up).
I was 26 and still relatively fresh in the "real world" - job, career, new marriage, responsibilities, blah, blah, blah. All of which created STRESS in my life. Along with STRESS came some of it's hoodlum friends: fatigue, headaches, chronic digestion problems, lethargy, muscle spasms. STRESS and friends loved the idea of moving. Road Trip! they yelled and packed their bags.
Once in Minnesota I found a new job. I loved the work we did (food marketing) but hated the environment (working for a married couple out of their home - yeah, I know, what the hell was I thinking?) I traveled quite a bit and eventually started having panic attacks. 1. because I hated flying, and 2. because I often traveled with the man of the couple and he was like the most obnoxious, sweatpant-wearing, too-loud-talking, inappropriate-moment Dad you hated as a 15-year old. I actually took muscle relaxers when I had to fly with him. STRESS had invited one too many friends to the party so I finally had to start kicking them out.
First thing I did was find a new job. But, alas, new job means new and different STRESS. (The message here is that stress is not always something that happens to you but how you react to those things) The second thing I did changed my life. I started doing Yoga. I had heard it was good for stress relief, so 'What the heck?' I thought. It began as a simple Community Ed class. Then it just so happened there was a Yoga studio down the road from my new job. I began going 3 times a week. WOW! - what a relief. That summer I had many moments of peace and serenity that I now know is possible all the time. All I knew then was that it was heavenly, felt really good and I wanted it. I've been working towards it ever since.
So, what the hell does this have to do with "Breeze at Dawn" you say? Settle down, I'm gettin' to it.
Ever have something happen in your life that is so out of place and unusual that you know it's a sign, and has some greater meaning that you don't fully understand? This is mine.
It was during that time in my life that one morning I went to my front door (to let my dog out) and saw a piece of paper on the doorstep. It was an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of white paper folded in half. No words, just blank. I picked it up and opened it. This is what it said inside:
"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across
the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep."
- Rumi
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across
the doorsill where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep."
- Rumi
There is more on the page which I will share another day, along with what I feel this poem means to me (it's meaning continues to unfold over time).
I have it memorized. I think of it often. And I still have that piece of paper.
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